


The Cruz Chronicles (A day in the life of Cruz Ramirez)

by sarahifox



Category: Cars (Movies)
Genre: Cruz Chronicles, Diary/Journal, Eventual Romance, F/M, Family Fluff, Father-Daughter Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Movie: Cars 3
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-31
Updated: 2018-03-08
Packaged: 2019-02-24 08:56:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 36,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13210341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarahifox/pseuds/sarahifox
Summary: Following the events of Cars 3, explore the relationship between Cruz and Lightning through Cruz's diary entries! Short stories complete with adventures in mentorship, friendship, and even hints of love!





	1. Freak Accident

**Author's Note:**

> Hello guys! This is my first time writing a Cars fanfic so please go easy on me. I'm asking you to suspend some disbelief as the cars will do things that are impossible for Cars to do. So please bear with me as we take this journey together. This story is a bit sad, but don't worry it will pick up soon!

**Freak Accident**

_**Cruz** _

_I did it again. I honestly don't know how Mr. McQueen puts up with me. This is literally the second time that this happened. I promised him, I promised that I would never have another episode like that again, and yet here I am sitting in the hospital- AGAIN!_

Cruz violently slammed her bright yellow diary shut and shoved it to the side with her right tire. She sighed deeply and closed her eyes. Her mind automatically flashed back to the incident. The memory was a blur, she knew that she pushed herself too hard. After Jackson beat her yesterday in the Dinoco 400 race (the last race of the new season), she just wasn't herself. She could see him now: going onto the stage and accepting the Piston Cup that she deserved. After her win in the Florida 500, she was unstoppable! She never lost a race since. Well, until that yesterday. Jackson's smug grin plastered every television screen. She could still picture the reporters asking her what happened out there on the track. Darrell Cartrip's voice pierced her engine as she recalled Jackson passing the finish line:  _"Jackson Storm takes back the Championship! It must not be a happy day for Team Dinoco."_ The cameras flashed in her eyes. The press bombarded her with endless questions. She couldn't keep up with them all. The yelling was too much for her. Lightning tried to get her away from the press but it was too late. She opened her eyes again.  _I don't want to have another panic attack in the hospital. That would be really ridiculous!_ She heard a soft knock on the door.

"Come in," she said faintly.

"How's my favorite girl doin' today?" Lightning said with a smile as he entered the room.

Cruz couldn't bear to look at his concerned blue eyes. It only made her feel worse.

"Don't let Sally hear you say that," Cruz said with a weak smile.

Lightning chuckled. "Well, you know what I meant. How are you feeling?"

Cruz didn't answer. She was too afraid to utter a word. The television was playing at a very high volume. Before Lightning could say anything else, the Chick's Picks theme song blasted through the speakers.

"Welcome back to Chick's Picks with Chick Hicks! I'm your host, former and forever Piston Cup Champion, Chick Hicks! This just in, everyone is still buzzing about Cruz Ramirez's freak accident yesterday! Aw man! What a Drama Queen! My old pal Lightning McQueen should teach her a thing or two about losing, after all that is his area of expertise! She totally lost it after the press asked her about her defeat by Jackson Storm. Her team wants to call it an "anxiety attack" but I know acting when I see it. It was ridiculous and-"

_**Lightning** _

Lightning switched the television off. He couldn't handle seeing Cruz being attacked like that. He watched as she began to cry buckets of tears. His "heart" sank. He slowly drove over to her and wiped her tears with his tires.  _I wish I could take her pain away. I'd give anything to have my energetic, optimistic girl back._

"Don't listen to him, Cruz. As crazy as it sounds, he gets paid to make up those stupid lies. It's how he keeps his ratings up," Lightning said as he rolled his eyes.

He wanted to drive out of this hospital, go to Chick's studio and give him a piece of his mind. He knew he could handle Chick's crazy remarks, but when it came to Cruz, he had definitely crossed the line.

Cruz smiled a bit, he was happy to see her returning to normal. "That's okay Mr. McQueen. Maybe he's right," she said with a sigh.

Lightning was shocked.  _Are you serious Cruz? Come on, you know better than that!_ He tried to calm down and prevent himself from screaming at her. The last thing that she needed was someone to aggravate her again. He took a deep breath and looked at Cruz.

"What do you mean? You and I both know that what he's saying is not true. You passed out in that field! It could've been worse and he has the nerve to call it ACTING?!"

"Calm down Mr. McQueen we don't need you in the hospital too," Cruz said as she rolled her eyes.

"I'm sorry but I can't stand to hear him talking about you like that!" His engine was firing up. His oil pressure was getting higher. He was about to flare up when Cruz caught his attention.

_**Cruz** _

_Great. Now he's mad. I always screw things up!_

"I deserve it. I deserve every negative comment."

"Cruz stop!"

"No, I do! Look, I freaked out for a simple question."

"You did not freak out. It was an anxiety attack."

"That's what you keep saying Mr. McQueen but let's just face the facts. I couldn't handle losing to Jackson. My reign as champion is over! I failed my fans, I ruined my dreams, and I even disappointed you!"  _Uh oh! He wasn't supposed to hear that part._


	2. Shift Your Focus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! Just a quick note to clear up any confusion: All the words that are in italics are the thought streams of the characters. If there is a paragraph in italics then that is Cruz's diary entry. Hope that helps!

**Shift Your Focus**

_**Lightning** _

He was stunned to hear that Cruz thought she was a failure in his eyes. Sure he was disappointed that she lost the championship, but that didn't mean he was disappointed in who she was. He fought back some of his own tears.

"Cruz, you-"

Just as he was about to finish that statement, Mater busted the door down with a mountain of balloons following behind him. He struggled to get the balloons into the room because most of them got stuck in the doorway.  _Oh Mater!_ Lightning went over and grabbed one of Mater's front tires. They each pulled and pushed until both Mater and Lightning got buried under the massive spread of balloons on the floor.

_**Cruz** _

She was extremely confused as she saw the chaotic balloon mess in front of her hospital bed. She giggled uncontrollably at Lightning's frantic screaming as he struggled to rise out of the ocean of balloons. Mater immediately popped up out of the balloon pit and yelled, "Hey Cruz!" She just shook her body and laughed so hard.

"I see you're in a good mood. I got all these here balloons for ya', I hope I made ya' feel better!" Mater said as he popped some of the balloons on his way over to Cruz. McQueen finally got out of the crazy mess. He was gasping for air since he was under there for so long.

"Mater! Did you have to buy so many?" Lightning said as he spit some deflated balloons out of his mouth.

"Well shew, of course I did silly. I really want Cruz to get better! Heck we all do!" he said with a big grin.

"Awww thank you Mater I love them!" she said with a smile.

Her heart has never felt this warm. After she won the race in Florida, Lightning and the rest of the Radiator Springs townies just took her under their wing. Sally made her have her own Cozy Cone. Ramone gave her that new Dinoco paint job. Sarge and Fillmore kept her up to date with new training techniques and organic fuel. Guido and Luigi were the best pit crew a girl could ask for. Lizzy told her endless stories about her days with Stanley and even gave her some relationship advice. Mater was always a blast and is very fun to hang out with. The legends always came to visit. Flo even made a drink in her honor: the Crushin' Cruz Colada! With all the love she received from the townies, the greatest gift she ever got from Radiator Springs was the chance to have Lightning McQueen as her mentor and crew chief! She looked up to him for years and now she finally had her dream come true. The last thing that she wanted was for Lightning to move on to another rookie if she kept on losing.

It's almost as if Lightning read her mind, he calmly told Mater to give them some time alone.

"Sure thing buddy!" Mater said as he rushed out the room.

"POP! POP! POP!" went most of the balloons as Mater ran over them. They almost sounded like fireworks popping off into the air.

"Woops! Sorry bout that." Mater said as he left the room and closed the door.

Cruz and Lightning chuckled as they looked at all the balloons on the floor.

Lightning looked at Cruz with a serious face. She knew that he heard what she said earlier and wanted to talk about it.

"Wow. These balloons are so amazing! I mean look at all the colors!" she said, trying to stall the conversation.

"Cruz-"

"I mean just look at how many popped! All of that and they still look awesome!"

"Cruz."

"Seriously, I think he paid a lot of money for them. Just look at the-"

"Cruz!" he yelled.

_That's it Cruz. There's no turning back now. Just kiss your crew chief goodbye._

**_Lightning_ **

He didn't like this side of Cruz. She hasn't been this vulnerable since she told him about her racing dreams. Why was she so afraid to tell him how she felt now? Did he not make it clear to her that he was very proud to be her coach? He always knew that he had a hard time showing his emotions, so he made sure to tell her before and after every race that he was proud of her no matter what happens on the track.  _Did I not say it enough? Was I too hard on her during our last training session? Where did I go wrong?_ There was only one way to find out. He took a deep breath and began to ask her the million dollar question.

"Cruz, what did you just say?"

She looked confused.  _Oh great I lost her._

"Well I said Mater must've paid a lot of money for those-"

"No, no, no, I mean before Mater came in."

She looked down and moved her tires across the bed. He knew that she was nervous, but the truth had to come out.

"I said that I-I-"

She was choking on her tears. Water began to form in his own eyes.  _Come on Lightning, you can't let her see you cry._

"It's okay Cruz, just let it out," he said as he put his tire on her side.

She finally burst: "I'M AN EMBARRASSMENT TO YOU! There I said it," she said as she wiped her tears.

_What?! Is that how I made her feel?_

Choking on his own tears, he cleared his throat and asked, "Cruz what makes you think that?"

"Remember Willie's Butte the other day?" she asked as more tears came.

How could he forget. They were running laps around Willie's Butte preparing for the Dinoco 400 (the race that she later lost to Jackson). All the townspeople came out to support them as they were training. They had already done five laps. Lightning was ready to cross the finish line for the last time, when Cruz decided to take another lap. He stopped after he crossed the finish line at the end of the fifth lap, but Cruz kept going. He was trying to warn her that she was going too fast and would hurt herself if she didn't stop, but she couldn't hear him.

_**Cruz** _

Her mind flashed back to that day. She sped away from McQueen just to show him that she had what it took to defend her title as champion. She was a bit exhausted from doing five laps on that large desert terrain, but she wanted to go the extra mile just to make Lightning proud.  _He's gonna be so impressed when I cross that finish line!_ As she made the turn on that steep cliff, she caught a glimpse of Lightning's worried face. Everyone was cheering, encouraging her to finish the lap, but he didn't.  _He doesn't think I can make it. He doesn't believe in me._ She stared at him for too long.

**_Lightning_ **

His engine raced with fear. She was drifting a little too high on that turn near the cliff's edge.  _Come on Cruz, you can do it! Just don't fall off._ The worry was all over his face. They both made direct eye contact and then she spun out of control. He saw her spin off of the road and into the huge patch of cacti. Her scream filled the air as everyone rushed over to make sure that she was okay. Of course, Lightning was the first one there.

**_Cruz_ **

The spikes of the cacti had little to no effect on her. Her engine was so hot that it began to smoke. She wiggled violently around in the cactus patch, trying to get out of it. Her engine was revving up in the worst way. She began to pant heavily as her wheels moved faster and faster.

"Cruz hang on! We're gonna get some help!" Lightning said.

His voice was fading from her memory. The world got so blurry that it started to spin. She blacked out. She stayed in the hospital for weeks after that incident. She didn't get a chance to train for the Dinoco 400. Lightning urged her not to go, but she wanted to go anyway. She wanted to show Lightning that she had what it took to beat Jackson again. She didn't even give herself enough time to recover from her panic attack. She did the race in a weak state, causing her to lose to Jackson in the last lap. When the reporters crowded around her, screaming their questions and harsh comments, all her fears came to life.

_**Lightning** _

He saw her being attacked by the press. The camera's flashes were blinding her and the questions were confusing her. Without hesitation, he rushed in to save his girl from further harm.

"That's it guys, no more questions!" he snapped as he dragged Cruz away by the tire.

It was too late. The heavy breathing came back. He didn't even feel her tire slipping out of his. All he was concerned about was getting her to Mack so they can drive away from the nonsense. It was no use, she didn't make it. She panted rapidly and she passed out again on the field on the outskirts of the track.


	3. Wake Up Call

**Wake up Call**

_**Cruz** _

"I blew it Mr. McQueen. You told me not to do the race. I should have listened, and now I'm back in here, eating some sour ice cream," she said as she pushed the bowl away.

She could see that he was a little too concerned. He might not be saying anything, but she knew deep down that he was worried.

"I'm fine Mr. McQueen don't worry about me," she said with a crooked smile.

"No you're not. Listen Cruz, you don't need to beat yourself up about this. It was an accident."

"Will you stop making excuses for me? I overreacted! I should've been more professional about it."

"Cruz it's not your fault. You can't control these things-"

"But I could control the choices I make. If I would've listened-"

_"_ Cruz it's over now. Just let it go."

"I can't let it go! Do you understand what this little episode did to my career?!"

"Cruz you need to stop. You can't let the press get to your head. Right now, all you need to focus on is getting better," he said as he pulled some covers over her.

He rolled away from her and headed to the door.

"Wait where are you going?" she asked as her engine began to race again.

"I want you to recover Cruz. I think you need some space. Take care of yourself and don't turn that TV on. I'll be back later," he said as he closed the door behind him.

As the door closed, she turned to pick up her diary. She began to write:

_Way to go Cruzie, you've done it again! I'm starting to think that Mr. McQueen is even more concerned about my health. What if he lets me sit out on all the other races in the season? What if he goes to the Rusteze Racing Center and gets another rookie to replace me while I recuperate? No Cruz, he can't do that. We both work for Tex now. But what if he talks to Tex and convinces him to put in a replacement for the races? After all, he can talk a snow mobile into an air conditioner! I need to get out of this hospital-fast!_

**_Lightning_ **

**Back at Radiator Springs...**

All of the townies were doing their normal activities: Mater was making art out of his junk, Sheriff, Sarge, Fillmore, and Ramone were at Flo's, Red was watering his flowers, Lizzy was sleeping in her shop, and Guido and Luigi were fixing up the tire shop. No one noticed McQueen enter the town; he wanted it that way. He went over to the Cozy Cone Motel where Sally was watching the television on her desk. She glanced up from the monitor and saw McQueen.

"Hey Stickers!" she said with a big smile.

"Hey Sal, how's everything?"

"Oh there's not much going on around here. Did you see Cruz today?"

Cruz was the last thing that Lightning wanted to talk about. All he wanted to do was spend time with the love of his life. He and Sally haven't had much time to spend with each other lately. Between being Cruz's crew chief, training the rookies with his new training programs, and now constant hospital visits, they rarely saw each other. But Sally never complained. She was always faithful: she never questioned his multiple visits to Cruz, she even went with him on some occasions. There was nothing going on between him and Cruz, but Sally never blinked. She was good to him and he was determined to be good to her. All he wanted to do was show her how much he adored her, but Cruz's panic attacks got in the way.

"Yeah I saw her," he said in a low voice.

"Well, how is she?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean 'you don't know?"

"Well, she's not doing as well as we hoped," he said looking down at the ground.

"What happened?" Sally asked with a worried look on her face.

"She thinks that I'm embarrassed by her. The media is tearing her apart Sal, and she's not taking it well," he said as he knocked his tire against the desk.

Sally made her way closer to him. She rested her tire on his side. She could see the grief in his face. She knew that he loved Cruz like a daughter and she surely appreciated him taking care of herself and Cruz.

"Hey, of course she's feeling that way. The press is never easy, I mean look at how they dogged you out after the crash."

"Yeah Sal but Cruz is different. She is very sensitive. I can take that kind of backlash all day long but she thinks about it a lot."

"What did you say to her?"

"Of course I told her that what she thinks isn't true, and that I'm very proud of her but she just kept on saying that I was making excuses for her. She also remembered the Willie's Butte incident and was scared that it might happen again."

"Oh yeah, that's understandable. Well, what did you do?"

"I just gave her some space and told her to get some rest."

Sally gave him a stern look. " _That's_ what you said?"

He was confused. "Um yeah?"

Sally shook her body. "Lightning, that girl needs a serious wake up call! I'm going to go visit her tomorrow."

"Sal-"

"You can't stop me Stickers, I'm going!"

That was it. He knew that he could never get Sally to change her mind. Hopefully her "powers of persuasion" can work on Cruz.


	4. Powers of Persuasion

**Powers of Persuasion**

_**Lightning** _

He was sure that this was a bad idea. He wanted to convince her not to go, but Sally was as stubborn as a mule! It was a quiet morning in Radiator Springs and everyone was on their way to have a nice breakfast at Wheel Well. Lightning was impatiently waiting for Sally to get ready.  _Come on Sal. It doesn't take a car that long! If she doesn't hurry up, we'll miss breakfast!_

"Alright Stickers! I'm finally ready," she said as she made her way over to the front of the Cozy Cone.

"Yeah finally!" Lightning said as he rolled his eyes.

"Oh come on, I wasn't taking that long," she said as she nudged his side with her tire.

"Whatever you say Sal," he said with a chuckle.

They rode alongside each other, cruising on over to Wheel Well. The drive was peaceful and slow. The picturesque scenery blurred passed them as they drove near the crystal waters. Lightning still wanted to talk Sally out of visiting Cruz. He knew how blunt she could be and he knew that Cruz didn't take kindly to a harsh approach. Sally could see that he was thinking hard about something. She didn't know what, but she didn't hesitate to find out.

"What's got your gears turning?" she said to a disassociated Lightning.

"Huh? Oh nothing, just taking in the beautiful scenery," he said with a nervous laugh.

She raised the eyelashes on her windshield with complete confusion.

"Really."

"Yeah it's really nice!"  _Oh no, she suspects something. Is it that obvious? Keep cool Lightning._

"Yeah okay," she said in a passive tone.

He was very confused now.

"That's it?" he asked.

"What do you mean? If you don't want to tell me anything I'm not forcing you!" she said with a smile.

_That girl and her reverse psychology. No wonder she's such a good lawyer._

"Fine. I just don't think you should-"

"Go to visit Cruz? I knew you would say that."

"So you won't?"

"No, I told you yesterday that I was going to visit her and that's a done deal."

"Come on Sal, you know how sensitive Cruz is."

"I'm starting to think that Cruz is not the only one who's sensitive," she said with a smirk.

"Are you calling me sensitive?"

"Hey if the shoe fits-"

"Come on Sal. I am not sensitive!" he huffed.

"Look at you getting all worked up for nothing."

"Sal, I'm not playing your mind games, alright? I'm not sensitive."

"Whatever you say Sensi- I mean, Stickers."

They both laughed as they made their way to the restaurant.

_**Cruz** _

**A few hours later...**

_Bored. Bored, bored, bored, and bored some more. Let's see, I had some burnt toast, some under-cooked eggs, and orange juice with pulp in it! I HATE PULP! I hate it just as much as I hate being in this bed. I can't wait to get out of here! I hope Mr. McQueen convinces the doctor to let me go home today. Remember Cruzie girl, you have to be all smiles when Mr. McQueen gets here. If you go into drama queen mode, he'll definitely worry, and if he worries, you'll be stuck in this hospital forever!_

The soft knock at the door caught her attention. She threw the diary to the side and put on the biggest smile she could muster up.

"Come in!" she said with a joyful shout.

"Hello Cruz, how are you feeling?" Sally said as she made her way over to Cruz's bed.

Her big smile faded a bit. Her engine began to speed up and her tires got sweaty.  _Oh boy, my fender is fried now!_

Cruz respected Sally simply because she was intimidated by her. She witnessed her put Lightning in his place on several occasions and she certainly knew that nobody could out sass her. Her focused eyes and deadly sarcasm could whip a broken jalopy into shape! The ladies never had a one on one conversation before. If they ever talked, Lightning was usually present. Cruz knew that this situation would go one of two ways: (1) Sally would brutally beat her headlights off and tell her to man up and get better or (2) It would be a pleasant conversation with an exchange of encouraging words. She finally swallowed that big lump in her throat and took a deep breath.

"Oh hey, Miss Sally! I'm doing fine," Cruz said with a nervous laugh. "Is Mr. McQueen with you?" she asked, hoping that seeing her mentor's face would calm her nerves.

"Nope. It's just me," Sally said with a smile.

"Oh okay!" Cruz said as she gave a loud, nervous chuckle.

"It's alright Cruz, you don't need to be nervous. I knew that you weren't expecting me."

"Well, when you put it that way-"

"I knew that you wanted Lightning to come so you could widen those big brown eyes and flash him with that sunshine smile, only to act like everything is okay. It might work on him, but it's definitely not working on me."

_Geez! How blunt can this woman be?_

"Well, I um-"

"Before you say anything else, I want you to know that this is a no-nonsense zone. I want you to be honest with me. You can either tell me what's really bothering you or we can stay here all day long. I have time," Sally said with a cunning grin.

Cruz knew that she had to tell Sally the truth: that she felt like a failure in Lightning's eyes. She wanted to prove to him that she is worth his investment. She never meant to ruin his relationship with his girlfriend, get him mocked by the press, and make him worry about her health. All she wanted was a chance to make their relationship count. She longed to make Lightning proud. As she thought about these things she began to cry in front of Sally.

Sally rode over to her bedside and began to console her: "It's alright, let it out," she said as she watched Cruz cry her eyes out.

After the tear fest, Cruz dried her eyes and was finally ready to talk.

"You know, I haven't had an anxiety attack like this since my parents split up. They always told me to dream small or not at all. Everyone in my family, especially my mom, would tell me that the smaller the dream, the safer I would be. Small dreams prevent you from having shattered expectations. When I first met Mr. McQueen, I knew that my dreams were finally coming true. When he became my crew chief, the moment was so surreal! Now it's, it's-" she choked on the tears that were forming in her eyes.

"It's what?" Sally asked, moving closer to Cruz.

Cruz took another deep breath as her tires began to shake. "Well, I think that my dreams are starting to...  _shatter."_

"What makes you think that hun?"

"For one, my racing career is over."

Sally began to laugh uncontrollably.  _Did she just laugh at me?_

"Are you seriously laughing?" Cruz said in a sharp tone.

Sally sighed a breath of relief and wiped the single tear that came from her laughter. "No Cruz, are you serious?"

"I don't get it."

"Cruz, how old are you?"

"Like in my mid-20s, why?"

"And you think that your career is ending?!" Sally said as she chuckled again.

"Miss Sally this isn't funny."

"You're right. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to laugh at you. I just think it's crazy that you believe your career is ending because of an accident you had no control over."

"Now you sound like Mr. McQueen," Cruz said as she rolled her eyes.

"Well, he's right! You have your whole life ahead of you. Your career is far from over."

"But I would still be racing right now if it wasn't for my stupid accident. I should've listened to Mr. McQueen. He told me not to race until I was 100% better, but I was so eager to show him that I could handle it. I ended up losing to Jackson Storm of all people! I'm so stupid! I don't know why I-"

"Yup. Keep it up you're doing great!" Sally exclaimed.

Cruz was stopped in her tracks. "Keep doing what?"

"Keep beating yourself up. You're very good at it. It's entertaining to watch actually."

Cruz rolled her eyes again. "I get it, Miss Sally. I just don't want Mr. McQueen to be ashamed of me you know?"

"Who told you that?"

"No one had to tell me. The media says it all!"

"Really."

"Yes!"

"Well from what I heard, all your fans are wondering when you are coming back to race. I saw the news this morning and a huge crowd of your fans had a protest rally in front of Chick's studio. Turn on the TV, you'll see."

"What?!" Cruz said as she quickly grabbed the remote and turned on the television.

It was on the Racing Sports Network with Shannon Spokes in front of a massive modern building. There was a crowd of cars surrounding the building holding up multiple signs, some of which read:  _SHE'S NOT A DRAMA QUEEN! SHE'S THE RACING QUEEN!, LEAVE CRUZ ALONE!, ANXIETY IS A REAL ISSUE!, DON'T BOOST YOUR RATINGS BY DOING ALL YOUR HATING!, STOP CHICK'S PICKS!_ All of these signs and more danced over the crowds as the camera captured an aerial view of the scene. Fans kept chanting phrases like: LEAVE CRUZ ALONE! or STOP CHICK'S PICKS! The camera then cut to Shannon as she gave the report.

"This is Shannon Spokes, reporting to you live here at Chick's Picks Studios. As you can see and hear, a massive audience of cars are surrounding the building. A few days ago, Chick's Picks host, Chick Hicks made some rude comments about the Piston Cup Champion's anxiety attack. Fans are out here today protesting those remarks and demanding that the television network cancel the show immediately. This is not the only place where fans are holding these rallies. There have been reports of other fans and even some of her competitors filling various race tracks with get well cards and candles, hoping she would recover soon. Here is what one fan had to say:

"I hope Cruz gets better. She is my role model and I know she's gonna kick Jackson's tail light!" Maddy Mcgear said with a radiant smile.

Cruz started crying tears of joy after seeing her fans and colleagues wish her well. Although she appreciated the warm wishes, part of her still felt empty. Her face sunk after thinking about Lightning again.  _Is he as excited as my fans are, or is he worried about my future as a racer?_

Soon enough, Sally caught wind of Cruz's grief-stricken face.

"Wow. For a person who has a loving fan base, you don't look too happy," she said referring to Cruz's disappointed look.

"No, I am. I appreciate the good wishes, it's just that I don't know if Mr.-"

"Oh, I get it. You're still worried about Lightning."

"Yes, I am. I love my fans and all, but I think I'm afraid of losing Mr. McQueen if I don't recover."

"Cruz let me tell you something: Lightning really cares about you. He loves you as if you were his own daughter! In all my life, I've never seen a car more protective, more defensive, and more caring than he is toward you. He loves you just as much as he loves me, maybe even more."

"No Miss Sally. Mr. McQueen adores you," Cruz said, reassuring Sally.

"I know he does. I'm saying all this to let you know that Lightning is never going to abandon you. He's gonna stick to you like gorilla glue on a broken bumper. And I'm sure if you told him about how you feel, he would tell you the same thing."

"Really? Talk to Mr. McQueen about how much our relationship means to me?" Cruz said in confusion.

Sally chuckled. "Look, he may be a little rough around the edges so to speak, but under all that bravado, he is nothing but a tender little teddy bear."

Cruz laughed so hard she almost choked. "Mr. McQueen? A teddy bear? No way!"

"Oh yeah. Don't tell him that I told you that," Sally said as she winked at Cruz.

"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me!" Cruz said as she and Sally laughed the afternoon away.


	5. Just One Lap

**Just One Lap**

_**Cruz** _

_28, 29, 30. 30 ceiling tiles. Man, staring at these blank walls and this dingy ceiling is sending my mind on a rampage!_

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. She let out a long sigh and closed her diary.  _I guess this entry will have to wait till next time._

"Come in," she said in a dry tone as she pushed her diary to the side.

"Good morning Ms. Ramirez! How are you feeling today?" her doctor asked as he came over to her bed with a nurse pittie holding a clip board on one of her forks.

"I'm doing alright. Are you here to tell me that I can finally go home?" Cruz asked with a bright smile.

"Nothing gets past you huh? Well yes, I am here to give you your test results and see what I can do to send you home."

She beamed with an overflowing joy. She definitely couldn't wait to get home and finally start training with Lightning. She could feel the wind rushing over her hood and the thrill of leaving a dust trail behind her.  _Willie's Butte here I come!_

"Alright Ms. Ramirez, most of your results are normal," the doctor started as he glanced at the clip board the pittie was holding.

_Most of my results are normal? How come all of them didn't come back normal?_

_"_ Now I know you must be a bit nervous about some of your test results not coming back normal. Before I proceed to give you the rest of the results along with my diagnosis, I need you to listen carefully to what I am about to say."

"Um, yeah. Yeah I'm listening," Cruz said as she looked down at the ground.

"Cruz, due to your frequent anxiety attacks, high stress levels, and some signs of severe dizziness, I have decided to diagnose you with panic disorder."

Her face dropped. Her heart sank. Her engine almost died out and she pressed her wheels into the bed.

"I know that this is very hard to take in, but I need you to stay with me. It's important that you abstain from any activities that involve the excessive use of energy. I suggest that you get a lot of rest. I can release you today, but you have to promise me to not to do anything rash or anything that could tamper with your health."

The doctor went on and on but his words became muffled. All she could think about was how Lightning would react to all of this. She could care less about the news, all she cared about was living her dream of becoming a racer and making her mentor proud. The doctor advised her to keep away from any activities that would require using lots of energy, that includes racing.  _Does this mean that my dreams are coming to an end?_

**_Lightning_ **

Mack pulled up at the Rusteze Racing Center. Even though he was Cruz's new chauffeur, he didn't mind giving Lightning rides to wherever he needed to go. He exited the trailer to a crowd of media cars flashing their cameras as the trailer door came down.

"Lightning! How long is it going to take Cruz to recover?" one car asked.

"Yeah, will she continue to race?" another car yelled.

"Will you consider training another racer?" another one screamed.

Lightning just pushed his way through the paparazzi with a slight smile on his face. He finally made it into the building and let out a sigh of relief.

"Those paparazzi people, they drive you crazy don't they?" Tex said as he drove down the spiral ramp to meet Lightning.

"Hey Tex! Just the person I wanted to see," Lightning said with a big smile.

"As happy as I am to see you son, I can't help but think that there's somethin' serious going on behind this meetin'."

Lightning shifted his eyes down. "Yeah Tex. It's about Cruz."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. You know that she suffered from two anxiety attacks during the past few days."

"Yes I do. I sure hope she's okay."

"She's doing well. The doctor called this morning and said that he wanted to release her today."

"That's excellent news! The faster she recuperates, the sooner she can get back to racing."

"Um, that's actually what I came to talk to you about. I don't think that Cruz will be able to race this season. The doctor told me to make sure that she stays away from any activity that will cause her to use a lot of energy. I'm sorry to say this but Cruz and I will be taking this season off."

An awkward hush fell over them. Tex cleared his throat while Lightning bit his lip.

"I understand Lightning. Cruz's health is the most important thing right now. Do you want me to find you a replacement for the season?"

"Absolutely not! She already suspects that. It would break her heart and that's the last thing that I want to do to her."

"I'm sorry Lightning. Dinoco needs to keep its momentum up as a successful company. The last time we took a long hiatus was after Cal retired."

"Come on Tex. You can't replace her."

"Lightning, you have to understand. I need to sponsor someone. If no one races for Dinoco, then you both would be out of a job."

"Listen Tex, Cruz needs some time to rest. Just give her a couple of weeks to get better and I promise she would be racing in no time."

"A couple of weeks huh?"

"Yes it's only until she gets better."

Tex considered Lightning's offer. He pondered it for a minute and made his final decision: "Fine. Dinoco is off for the season," he said with a warm smile.

"Thank you so much Tex! You won't be sorry I can assure you!" Lightning exclaimed as he began to drive off.

"Oh one more thing. This is only to keep the company up and running: I'm giving Cruz 12 races off to rest. If she doesn't get better in the next few weeks, I'll have to find a replacement for the rest of the season," Tex said as Lightning headed for the door.

Lightning froze in front of the door.  _Only 12 races? The season has 36 races, that's not enough time._

Lightning sighed and turned around to face Tex. "Yes sir," he said as he turned to leave the building.  _How am I going to tell this news to Cruz?_

**_Later that evening..._ **

"WELCOME HOME CRUZ!" everyone shouted as all of the townies and racing legends surprised Cruz with a welcome home party at Wheel Well.

The place was covered in yellow and white balloons. A massive banner hung over the sign at the entrance of the restaurant, welcoming Cruz back to Radiator Springs. Music, fun, and family bonding filled the air as everyone was delighted to see Cruz smiling and back in her natural element.

"Good to have you back kiddo!" Louise said with a bright smile.

"Nice to see you young lady," River said.

"Take care of yourself. We really missed you," Junior chimed in.

"Happy to see you up and about. Hope you stay that way," Smokey said with a wink.

Some people even gave their own little speech about how much they appreciated and missed Cruz:

Mater: _Cruz has always been the bestest racer in all of Radiator Springs, after my buddy Lightning McQueen of course. She is a joy to be around and I hope she NEVER EVER EVER has to leave again! Git-R-Done 51!_

Louise:  _Cruz honey, ever since I met you in the Cotton Pin, I have to say that I saw greatness in you ever since. I love you darlin' and I wish you a speedy recovery so you can go kick some bummers on the race track!_

Flo:  _It's great to have you back sugar! Always remember to slow down and catch your breath because baby, you almost gave me a heart attack when you went to that hospital! Hoo-wee! Child, get better soon!_

Fillmore:  _Happiness as light as air. Love as deep as the ocean. Those are my wishes for you today and everyday. Get well soon man._

Luigi:  _You are a brilliant ball of sunshine and I must scream to the world how excited I am to have you home!_ Presto presto la mia ragazza! (Get well soon my girl!)

Sally:  _It's great to have you back hun. Stickers was a train wreck without you! I love you so much and all I wish is for you to get better and to be the amazing racer that I know you are._

Lightning:  _Cruz, I just want to let you know that I love you like a daughter and I want to see you get well. I know that I was a nervous wreck and was a little over protective at times, but I just want to say that it's great to have you back. To Cruz!_

"To Cruz!" everyone cheered as they toasted their gas cans together in honor of Cruz.

"Cruz is there anything that you want to say?" Lightning asked as he got down from the stage. He scanned the crowd to find her, but he didn't see that bright yellow car anywhere.

"Cruz? Cruz!" he yelled as he sped out of the restaurant like a maniac.

_**Cruz** _

She felt terrible for leaving so suddenly, but she just couldn't wait to start training again. She zoomed over to Willie's Butte and made her way to the starting area. It was a quiet and breezy evening. The sun was setting over the dessert hills making the skyline a lavender, gold, and red crescendo of bright beams, which painted the sky with a breathtaking array of lights. She drove up to the starting rope which was laid out between two stacks of tires on each side. She looked at the dirt track ahead of her. She could feel her engine getting faster as she began to breathe heavy again. All she could remember was swerving off of that steep turn on the cliff and falling into the cactus patch.

_No Cruz! Today is the day that you face your fear!_

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She pushed her tires into the ground in the same way that Doc used to touch the road before he raced.

"Alright, focus. You are a fluffy cloud and a bright, beautiful banana babe! You can do this. Ready... Set... GO!" she said as she revved her engine. Although her mind wanted to move, her body stayed behind the starting line.

"Come on Cruz! You can do this. Alright, ready... set... OH I CAN'T DO THIS!" she said as she angrily knocked over one of the stacks of tires with her front tire.

"Oops! Okay, one more time. Ready... Set..."

"Cruz what are you doing?!" Lightning yelled from on top of the hill that was facing the track.

"Oh hey Mr. McQueen! I was just checking out the sunset. Isn't it beautiful?"

"Knock it off Cruz, I know why you're out here," he said in a stern tone.

"Please Mr. McQueen, just one lap! I promise to take it slow. Please?!" she said giving him the puppy dog eyes while biting her lip.

"No! You just got out of the hospital!"

"Yeah I know that, but I just had an anxiety attack. It's not like I had surgery or anything. My engine still works, I'm fine! Please just let me do one lap," she said as she bit her lip even harder.

"Just an anxiety attack? Do you even hear yourself?" he said as he rolled his eyes.

"Pretty please Mr. McQueen? I swear I'll never ask for anything ever again!"

"We both know that's a lie."

"Please, please, please?"

"You're not gonna stop are you?"

"Nope! Not until I drive on this track."

**_Lightning_ **

He sighed as he saw the determined look in her eyes. How could he say no to such a bright face. He was always a sucker for those big brown eyes. And the lip bite? Man, he just couldn't resist.  _One lap huh?_

"One lap?" he asked, giving her a reluctant look.

"Yes! Just one," she said as she jumped up and down.

"Fine you can take the lap. Just take it easy."

"Yes! Thank you Mr. McQueen. Will you do the honors?"

He shook his body and rolled his eyes. He couldn't believe that he fell for it again.

"Alright. On your mark... get set... GO!" he said as Cruz let out a squeal and began to drive around the track.

He watched as she came to the steep turn near the edge of the cliff. He wanted to race over there and be by her side to make sure that she doesn't fall off again.  _No Lightning, she needs to do this alone._

**_Cruz_ **

She was about to round the cliff when a chill came over her. She veered a little to the edge, but caught her balance and drifted safely to the end of the track. She gleefully rushed to meet Lightning back at the starting line, where she saw a huge smile across his face.

"Woo-hoo! OH YEAH! I can feel it! I can feel it Mr. McQueen. I'm ready to get back out on that track and leave those next gens in the dust, especially Jackson! I can't wait to see the look on his face when I crush his hopes and dreams!"

"Whoa there hot rod, don't get too excited it was only one lap."

"But I faced my fear and it felt great!"

"I'm proud of you Cruz. You came a long way from the mopey, tear filled girl I once saw in the hospital," Lightning said as he nudged her side with his tire.

"Yeah, thanks for the lap  _dad!_ " Cruz said as her eyes widened.

_Did I just call him dad? Did he even notice?_

"What did you just call me?"

_Oh shoot he did hear!_

"Um, I said thanks for the lap Mr. McQueen. We better get back to the party before Mater eats all the cake," she said as she zoomed off on the road.

"Huh." Lightning said as he zoomed behind her.


	6. Cold Confessions (Part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter, I'm just going to assume that the Cars universe has the same food as us (I'm not making them be human beings, they are still cars but with human things). Also, I might add some rooms to the Cozy Cone Motel just to fit the story line. Just an FYI.

**_Cold Confessions (Part 1)_ **

_**Cruz** _

It was a beautiful morning in Radiator Springs. It was still and tranquil in the town as the sun began to rise. The alarm was buzzing loudly as Cruz sprang out of bed. She pounded the button to stop the cone shaped clock and scrambled to brush her teeth and inflate her tires. Before she left to start her day, she stopped in front of a mirror and flashed a big smile.

"Today's the day Cruz! The day to finally get back to training!" she said to her reflection as she sped out of her cone.

_**Lightning** _

"Good morning Stickers!" Sally said as she caught a glimpse of an exhausted McQueen.

"Mornin' Sal. Something smells good!" he said as he made his way over to the stove where Sally was making breakfast.

"Yeah, this is Cruz's first breakfast since she's been home. I wanted to make it special ya' know?" she said as she gave him a kiss on his front bumper.

"Well if you made it, it's sure to be more than special," he said as he returned the kiss on her side.

"Nice try but your corny quips won't make me move any faster. You still have to wait till everything is ready."

"But I'm starving!" Lightning groaned.

"Sorry sweetie, you can't rush perfection," she said with a grin.

"I guess not," he said with a pout.

"Don't worry, it will be ready in a few minutes. So, what's been going on with you? Looks like you're thinking really hard about something," she said turning from the stove and gazing at his disassociated face.

"Huh? Oh, I just can't get over what Cruz said to me yesterday."

"Well aren't you going to tell me what she said?"

"Okay, I could be wrong but this is what I heard."

"Uh huh..."

"She called me... dad," Lightning said as he stared at Sally.

Sally gave him a blank expression.

"What?" he said in confusion. He definitely imagined his girlfriend having a different reaction to this news.

"Are you sure she called you that?" Sally said with a smirk on her face.

"That's what I heard."

"Did you ask her about it?"

"Yeah and all she did was drive away," he said as he looked down at the floor.

"I think that's all the proof you need. Don't worry about it, this means that you're doing something right," Sally said as she rested her tire on his side.

Suddenly, the timer started to ring. "Oooh! Food's ready," Sally said as she dashed back over to the stove.

_Finally!_

Sally came back to the dining table and began to set up the plates and dish sets.

"Need some help?" Lightning asked, seeing her struggle to put some of the dishes on the table.

"Yeah that would be nice," she said as they both continued to place the food on the table.

The table was finally set and the food was piping hot. Lightning's mouth began to water as he stared at all the eggs, sausages, bacon, toast, and pancakes that were on the table. When Sally went back into the kitchen to get the drinks, he tried to sneak a piece of bacon with his front tire. He kept glancing over at the kitchen door to see when Sally would come back. Little beads of sweat formed on his windshield as he inched his tire closer to the bacon. Just when he was about to reach for it, he felt a hard slap on his tire.

"Ow!" he screamed as he glared at an angry Sally.

"You know better Stickers, we have to wait for Cruz," Sally said as she rested the pitcher of orange juice on the table.

"What's taking her so long?"

**_Cruz_ **

It's as if she heard Lightning's complaint. As soon as he said that, Cruz zoomed into the dining room.

"So...sorry...I'm late. Was... trying to get some... flowers from Fillmore for the...table," she said, trying to catch her breath.

She placed the crumpled, yellow flowers (with dirt still on them at the roots) into the empty vase on the table. Everyone grimaced at the sight of the withered flowers.

_Aww man. Some centerpiece I found._

"I'm sorry. I was in a rush," Cruz said with a sheepish smile.

"That's alright. It's better than the ones Stickers found the other day, with bees flying around them," Sally said as she glared at Lightning.

"What? It was short notice! Anyway, she's here so let's eat!" Lightning said as he attempted to grab the plate of bacon.

"Excuse me, but we have to say grace first," Sally said as Lightning put the plate back down on the table.

"Can I say grace?" Cruz asked.

"Sure, go ahead," Sally said.

"Um, thank you Lord for this food and I pray that it would be great. Amen."

"AMEN!" Lightning yelled as he grabbed the plate of bacon again.

Cruz quickly piled her plate with every piece of food that was on the table. She then shoved all the food from her plate into her mouth like a ravenous wolf that didn't eat for weeks. Both Lightning and Sally looked at her in shock. They each exchanged worried looks as they witnessed Cruz's savage eating habits.

"Cruz hun, you need to slow down!" Sally warned.

"I thought I was hungry!" Lightning said as he continued to stare at Cruz.

"Honey there's plenty more where that came from. I knew that you could use some good food after the stuff they were feeding you at the hospital. I made more than enough," Sally said.

"That's alright Ms. Sally. I wanted to hurry and eat so I could start training," Cruz said as she shoved more eggs into her mouth.

"Training?" Sally asked, giving Cruz a confused look.

"Yup. I want to get a head start. The new season starts next week."

Sally looked over at Lightning with a stern stare. He continued to eat even though an awkward silence fell over all of them.

"Okay... this is kind of awkward, but I gotta go. See you at the track Mr. McQueen, don't take too long!" Cruz said as she drove out of the Cozy Cone Motel.

_**Lightning** _

Both Sally and Lightning waited till Cruz was completely gone. They waited until they heard the door close behind her. Sally turned to Lightning and gave him a death glare.

_Don't give me that look Sal. Please stop staring at me like that._

The silence continued to rest between them. They both shared intense stares with each other until Lightning broke the silence:

"Look, I know what you're going to say. I just didn't think it was the right time to tell her."

"Well it's now or never. Now would be the best time. She already thinks that she's racing for the season and you and I both know that she's not," Sally said in a serious tone.

Lightning sighed. "That's just it, I don't know how to tell her. You saw how excited she was, I just can't-"

"Alright. Here is where you need to put your tires down. She called you a dad, so now you have to start acting like one. You need to get down to that track and stop her from taking anymore laps."

"Sal, you know she won't listen to me."

"Wow. You've gotten soft on me Stickers. Yes Cruz will be upset, but she'll get over it. Don't be afraid of her. You definitely have a soft spot for her and she knows it too. Don't let her use that to her advantage. You need to start showing her some tough love. If you need me to come with you, I will be there."

"No Sal that's okay. You're right, I just don't want to add anymore stress on her. She's been through enough."

"Which is why you need to get some extra octane in your system and go tell her that she can't race in the next season. It's for her own well being. She needs to get better so she could actually race to her full potential. You need to let her know that, remind her of who she is and why she needs to rest up and get well."

Lightning swooned at Sally's words. Even though she was being stern with him, he couldn't help but think about how lucky he was to have such a strong, sassy, and smart woman in his life.

"Alright Sal, I'll tell her," he said with a warm smile.

"Why are you smiling like that?"

"I'm just thinking about how lucky I am to be with such an amazing woman like you."

"Yes you are very lucky and don't you ever forget that," she said as she kissed Lightning again. "Now hurry up and go, she probably took three laps already!" Sally said as Lightning sped out of the room.

**_Cruz_ **

She was back behind the starting line at Willie's Butte. Surprisingly, she didn't take the initiative in doing a few laps before Lightning arrived. She was terrified. Yesterday's lap was successful, but what if this lap wasn't as great as her last? What if yesterday's lap was a stroke of luck? What if she has a repeated incident today? All these questions and more were pressing in her mind. She finally decided to take a deep breath and just ease into the drive.

"Alright Cruz, here we go. Fluffy clouds, banana babes, and all that good stuff. You got this," she said to herself as she revved her engine. "Ready...set..."

"Cruz!" her mentor yelled as he made his way over to her. He drifted and stopped right in front of her on the track.

"There you are! I was starting to think that you weren't gonna show up!" she said with a big smile.

"Are you crazy?" Lightning asked as he tried to catch his breath.

"What do you mean? I'm ready to start training so I could get back to racing, and I can't start if you don't move out the way."

"Look Cruz, I'm not moving."

"Oh come on Mr. McQueen don't be ridiculous."

"No I mean it. You just got out of the hospital!"

"That's what you said yesterday and I turned out fine! Just one more lap."

"No! No more laps."

"But Mr. McQueen, how can I race if you won't let me train?"

Lightning sighed again. His face dropped and he didn't even try to make eye contact with Cruz.

_Why does he have that look on his face? Am I not going to race? Nah! Mr. McQueen would never do that. Would he? There's only one way to find out:_

"I am racing aren't I?" Cruz asked in a shaky tone.

Lightning didn't answer.

"Mr. McQueen, am I racing or not?" she asked again.

**_Lightning_ **

_I knew it. Look at her, I didn't even say anything yet and her smile is already disappearing! Maybe Sally's right, maybe I do have a soft spot for Cruz. Come on Lightning, snap out of it! You need to quit being soft and show her some tough love._

He took a deep breath. This was not going to be easy. He loved that sweet yellow car to death and making her upset after everything she went through was the last thing that he wanted to do.

"Cruz, I know that this is something that you don't want to hear, but you have to understand that this is for your own good."

Her facial expression was blank. Her smile left her face completely and her brown eyes dimmed in color. She was standing there, just waiting for him to tell her that she couldn't race for the next season. Lightning knew that she was waiting for the news so he wanted to break it to her gently.

"Cruz, you're not racing in the start of the season. I spoke to Tex the other day in person and asked if he could give you some time off to rest. He's allowing you to have 12 races off for the season and he's allowing you to come back later on. But for now, I'm not letting you race. It's too risky for your health."

**_Cruz_ **

She continued to stare at him with a blank expression.  _He made that decision without me. To think he would at least tell me about something as important as this. I guess he doesn't think that I can make my own decisions._

"When did you talk to him about this?" she asked.

"Um the day that the doctor called and said that he wanted to release you."

"Oh. So, while I was in the hospital thinking about getting back to training, you went off on a long journey just to make a decision without even telling me anything?"

"Cruz that wasn't my intention and you know it. I just wanted to make sure that you were healthy."

She gave him a serious look. "Mr. McQueen, I know I can be stubborn. I know I can be a bit over dramatic at times. But there's one thing that I know I wouldn't do: and that's be unreasonable. Why didn't you just tell me that you were going to talk to Tex about my health? Why wouldn't you include me in something that important? Do I not have a say about my own life?"

"I didn't think that I needed your permission in order to do what's best for you. I'm your crew chief and I get to decide whether you race or not."

"Oh okay I get it now. You get the final say. So, since I can't train can I at least go take a drive?"

"Want me to come with you?"

"No. I think I'm fine by myself," she said as she drove away from the track.

**_A FEW HOURS LATER..._ **

There was a lot of tension at the dinner table that evening. Lightning was chewing extra slowly while avoiding eye contact with Cruz and Sally. Cruz was just staring at her plate and picking at her food. Sally looked around at the two of them. She had never seen each of them so distant.

"So, how did everyone's day go? Mine was pretty busy. I had to sort files at the Cozy Cone and work on some cases but other than that my day was pretty good. What about you Cruz?" Sally asked.

"Huh? Oh my day was pretty okay. I got to take a drive out to Wheel Well and I enjoyed the view up there. What about you Mr. McQueen?" she asked, giving him a glare.

"I didn't really do much. I just hung out with Mater in tail light cavern and then we did some tractor tipping and that's about it," he said while he put more food in his mouth.

"It seems like everyone had a nice day. So, now that we got all that out of the way, can one of you tell me what happened between the two of you?" Sally said.

Cruz and Lightning stared at each other. None of them bothered to bring up the situation at Willie's Butte.

"Should I start calling names?" Sally asked with a grin.

"I'm just waiting until I have permission to speak since I can't make my own decisions anymore," Cruz said with a huff.

Lightning sighed in aggravation and rolled his eyes.

_**Lightning** _

_You've got to be kidding me. Is she seriously doing this right now?_

"Well, I for one don't see anything wrong with being concerned for your well being," he said as he chewed harder.

"And I don't see why you can't discuss my well being with me," Cruz said as she too began to chew harder.

"Oh I see, this about the racing decision with Tex am I right?" Sally asked.

"Yes Ms. Sally you are right. Apparently Mr. McQueen thought it was okay to go behind my back and make decisions for me."

"That is not true! I just wanted to make sure that you were okay!" he yelled.

"I understand that but you could've given me a heads up about it."

"Give me a break Cruz. You don't need to get all bent out of shape. I was just making sure that you weren't in harm's way."

"I can make my own choices for my future Mr. McQueen!"

"Oh, give the girl a few Piston Cups and she thinks that she can run her own life!" Lightning snapped.

"Lightning!" Sally exclaimed.

"Excuse me?! I can say the same thing about you: give the man a headset and he thinks he can control your entire life!" Cruz yelled back.

"Look Cruz I don't know what your problem is, but I've been in the racing business WAY longer than you have. I want to use my knowledge about the racing world to make sure that you stay on top. My goal is to invest the proper time and energy it takes to keep your legacy alive. I don't know if you see it that way, but I care about your racing career because I know that it's your dream. If you can't see that, then I must being doing a terrible job as your mentor."

The room got extremely quiet. You could hear the evening wind blowing through the trees.

"That's just it. You want to know what my problem is? I just want to make sure that I am worth the investment that you're putting in. I want to prove to you that I can take care of myself and not always rely on you to fix my problems. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to bed. Thanks for the dinner Ms. Sally," Cruz said as she drove away from the table.

"Cruz-"

"Let her go. I think she needs to be alone for the night," Sally said as she stopped Lightning from going after Cruz.


	7. Cold Confessions (Part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few things before reading: First, THIS IS THE LONGEST CHAPTER! The text in bold indicates a flashback. The bold in italics indicates narration within the flashback. Also, a disclaimer: I do not own the scene from the flashback. I am just quoting some parts as a reference to my own story. The scene belongs to Disney and Pixar in the movie Cars 3 (Link: watch?v=xUY-E1snVkc). Thank you.

_**Cold Confessions (Part 2)** _

**_Cruz_ **

Cruz drove to her old desk at the Rusteze Racing Center. She was shocked to see that everything stayed exactly how she left it after she quit at the Florida 500.

_Wow! I can't believe I didn't clean out this office once I quit! I'm surprised that everything is still here._

She marveled at the framed pictures of her family on the desk, the cluttered paperwork that covered the table top, the mini #95 posters that plastered the walls, and the speakers she used to play her favorite songs while she worked.

"Well, time to get packing!" she said as she started to fill some boxes with her things.

While she was packing away all her precious mementos, she heard some voices down the hall.

_I didn't know anyone was here._

The voices got louder as two cars passed by. She drove over to the door and opened it halfway. She peeked through the half open crack in the door to see who was talking.

"You sure you want to do this? It would crush her," one of the voices said.

"No Tex, I'm positive," the other voice replied.

Cruz recognized that voice anywhere: "Mr. McQueen?" she said as she opened the door more.

Sure enough, it was Lightning and Tex talking at the end of the hallway.

"I know she loves racing, but I have to think about my career as a crew chief. She's just not good enough for me anymore," Lightning said.

_What did he just say?! Not good enough anymore? I hope he's not talking about me._

"I understand Lightning. We'll just have to break the news to her gently."

"Yeah, she's not going to take it well but it's for the future of Dinoco."

_What are they talking about?_

"Just say the word and Cruz will be gone," Tex said with a smile.

_WHAT?!_

"Oh yes Tex. I made my decision: I want to train another rookie. Cruz is no longer my racer," Lightning said.

"NOOOOOOOO!" Cruz screamed as she sped out of her office.

She jumped up from her bed, breathing heavily. She looked around to find herself in her Cozy Cone with the time reading: 2:50am.

"Okay, okay. It was just a dream Cruz, it was just a dream," she said to herself as she opened her diary.

_Dear diary,_

_I just had the craziest dream. Mr. McQueen was going to replace me with another racer! I honestly don't know where all that came from, but I think I may have an idea. I still can't get over the argument we had yesterday. All he wants is to be a great mentor, but I just won't tell him how I feel about our mentor/mentee relationship. I'm just... scared._

Cruz closed her diary and pushed it to the side. Sally's words flooded her memory:

_"Lightning is never going to abandon you. And I'm sure if you told him about how you feel, he would tell you the same thing. He may be a little rough around the edges so to speak, but under all that bravado, he is nothing but a tender little teddy bear."_

Cruz chuckled at the thought of Lightning having a soft side. Maybe Sally was right. Maybe she should just get over her fear and tell McQueen how she feels about him.

"Alright Cruz, it's now or never," she said to herself as she exited her cone.

It was a peaceful night in Radiator Springs. The starry night sky covered the town like a blanket, while crickets chirped and the cool night breeze whistled in the air. Cruz drove slowly to Lightning and Sally's cone. The garage door in front of the cone was locked. She could hear the noisy snores that erupted from the cone. Her heart was pounding so hard that she felt her oil pressure rise. She lifted her front tire to knock on the door, but she paused midway.

_Come on Cruz. Just knock._

She went to knock on the door a second time, but again her tire froze in hesitation.

_Grrr! Why can't I just knock? Maybe I should wait till the morning to do this. Well, I can't go back to sleep, not after that nightmare I just had. Awww, what do I even say to him? What if he spazzes out at me for waking him up at nearly 3 o' clock in the morning? Look I need to get this over with. Come on Cruz you can do this. Here goes nothing._

She swallowed that lump in her engine and finally knocked loudly on the door.

_**Lightning** _

Sally and Lightning were sleeping side by side in the cone that they now shared as a couple. They each snuggled against each other for warmth on this breezy night. They filled the room with loud snores that could be heard from outside the cone. Even if they both swore that they never snore, the whole town would say otherwise. They were resting peacefully near each other until a loud knock on the door woke Sally up (she was always a light sleeper, while Lightning slept like a rock). She groaned a bit and was about to go back to sleep when she heard the same loud knock again.

"Stickers. Stickers!" she whispered as she tried to wake Lightning up. It was no use. He was out cold. The knock on the door came again as she nudged his side.

"Stickers wake up," she whispered again as she nudged him harder.

"Hmm?" he said as he struggled to fully open his eyes.

"You hear that?" Sally whispered, referring to another knock at the door.

"Hear what?" Lightning groaned as he tried to go back to sleep.

The knock came again.

"That! There's someone knocking at our door," she said as she attempted to keep Lightning from falling asleep again.

"At this hour?" he groaned.

"Apparently so. Just go and check it out," she said as she tried to push him out of the bed.

"Sal I'm tired," he groaned as he closed his eyes again.

Another knock came at the door.

"Well the person outside isn't as tired as you are. Just get up and see who it is."

"Alright, alright I'm going," Lightning said as he drove to the door and pushed the button to make it open.

_You can't be serious! This better be something important._

_**Cruz** _

She knocked as many times as she could, but there was no response.

_Well, I tried. I guess I'll have to wait till morning._

Just as she turned to leave, she heard the door open and immediately turned around. Her engine began to rumble and her heart began to race. She saw an exhausted Lightning emerge from behind the door. His eyes were half open and he looked extremely drowsy.

_Oh man, what did I do? I'd better make a run for it before he sees me._

"Cruz?!" Lightning exclaimed as his eyes shot open.

_Too late!_

"Uh, hey Mr. McQueen! Isn't it a beautiful night tonight? I mean, just look at the stars!" she said with a nervous laugh.

Lightning's face remained as straight as an arrow. He obviously wasn't into the small talk at this moment. All he did was blink extra slowly without uttering a sound.

"Cruz, do you have any idea of what time it is?" Lightning said in an annoyed tone.

"Um, a little after 3am?" Cruz said with another nervous chuckle.

"What's going on? Why are you up so late?" he asked, with a hint of concern in his sluggish voice.

"Well um, I needed to talk to you. It's very important and it couldn't wait until morning," Cruz said in a quivering tone as she dragged her front wheel into the ground.

_**Lightning** _

Although he was extremely tired, he couldn't help but notice the wave of fear that spread across Cruz's face. Something was definitely wrong. After living in Radiator Springs for the past couple of months, Cruz never woke up in the middle of the night like this, especially not to wake anyone up. This was the very first time she ever woke anyone up so late at night. Lightning knew that this had to be a serious issue since this moment was so rare. He gazed at her face one more time. It's as if he could see right through her. She looked so terrified, like she's seen a ghost or faced her worst fears. He could see her constantly dragging her front tire in the ground as her body trembled a bit. There was something unusual about her behavior. He had no choice. He needed to address this once and for all.

"Come on Cruz," he said as he came out of the cone and motioned for Cruz to follow him.

He led her to the main desk of the Cozy Cone Motel (the place where Sally does most of her work). He backed up near the desk to face Cruz. They were both turned at a horizontal angle away from the desk, facing each other.

"Alright. What's up?" Lightning asked as he looked into Cruz's nervous eyes.

_**Cruz** _

She couldn't believe that this was happening. She felt so many different emotions at once. They were all spiraling in her soul. She looked up at Lightning's blue eyes, which were full of concern and wide open. Cruz knew now that he was fully awake, ready to listen to what she had to say.

"I um, want to first apologize for waking you up so late. I mean this is important and all, but I didn't want to pull you out of bed-"

"Don't worry about that. Right now I want to know what's going on with you. Are you okay?" Lightning said, interrupting her apology.

Cruz looked away from Lightning. She fought back the tears that were itching to come out.  _No more crying Cruz. It's time to be a big girl now._

"No Mr. McQueen, I'm not okay," she said with a shaky sigh.

"What happened?" Lightning asked in a gentle tone.

She took a deep breath.  _How can I even say this?_

"I don't deserve you Mr. McQueen," she said, blinking back tears.

"What do you mean?" he asked in confusion.

"Remember the day when you first came to the Rusteze Racing Center?" she asked with a smile.

"Cruz-"

"This is leading somewhere I promise! Anyway, do you remember?"

"Yes I remember. How could I forget?" Lightning said, being completely oblivious to where this was actually going.

"Well a couple of days before you arrived, Mr. Sterling told me that you were coming and that I had to train you. I was completely ecstatic when I heard the news..."

**Cruz was in the Rusteze Racing Center helping Kurt with the bugs again.**

"One more time Kurt, here come the bugs!" she yelled as she pressed the button.

Kurt closed his eyes and his mouth as the small bugs flew onto his face.

"Did I do it right Ms. Cruz?" he asked as he tried to open his eyes.

"Um well, the idea is to keep your eyes open so you can see the track. Let's try again." she said as she attempted to press the button for the second time.

"Cruz!" Sterling shouted from the balcony above.

"Yes Mr. Sterling?" Cruz answered.

"I need to see you in my office now," he said as he drove away.

_What could he want to see me about?_

_**I had no idea what this meeting was about, but I met Mr. Sterling in his office like he asked.** _

Cruz entered the office and found Sterling behind his desk with a big smile on his face.

"Come in Cruz. I have some exciting news for you."

"What is it Mr. Sterling?" Cruz asked as she made her way over to his desk.

"I just got a call from Rusty and Dusty Rusteze and they told me, get ready for it: Lightning McQueen is coming to the Rusteze Racing Center!" he exclaimed.

Cruz stood there with her mouth wide open. She completely froze as soon as she heard the news.

"Excuse me Mr. Sterling," she said as she left the room.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Cruz squealed as Sterling shook his body from inside the office.

She came back into the room breathing heavily and smiling hard.

"Sorry about that," she said as she blushed.

"No worries. I was worse than that when I heard the news," Sterling said with a laugh.

"Oh my gosh! I can't believe this is happening!" Cruz exclaimed as another big smile spread across her face.

"Me neither. Now I have an assignment for you. Lightning is coming here to train for the Florida 500. You know that last season ended with his devastating crash."

"Yeah that was brutal," Cruz said as she cringed. She was never the same after seeing her childhood hero smash into a wall and wreck on the track. Remembering that incident made her oil run cold.

"Yes it was. He wants to get back into the game so you know that he'll need a trainer."

"YOU WANT ME TO TRAIN  _THE_ LIGHTNING MCQUEEN?!" Cruz screamed.

"Yes ma'am. You will train him until he leaves for Florida. Can you handle that?" Sterling asked in a serious tone.

"Of course I can! You can count on me Mr. Sterling, I won't let you down!" Cruz said with a grin.

"Well then, I suggest you start planning your exercise routines or whatever you need to prepare in order to help Lightning. Remember, McQueen is not a rookie like the ones that you work with on a daily basis. He is a veteran racer with seven Piston Cups under his hood. He has a lot of experience so you have to dig deep in order to find a routine that works for him."

"You got it Mr. Sterling. I have everything under control."

"Alright get to it then."

"Yes sir!" Cruz said as she left the office.

**_I was excited and terrified at the same time. I told Mr. Sterling that I had everything under control but in reality, I didn't know what the heck I was doing. I struggled to find routines that were fit for a Piston Cup Champion. Then it finally hit me:_ **

"That's it! Mr. Sterling said that Mr. McQueen was a veteran racer, that means he's old! Of course! I can use the "old man training style." Since he already knows so much about racing, he could do all the easy stuff. If Mr. McQueen works his way through the easy training style (which I know he will), I could then show him how to use the new simulator. Once he masters the simulator and his training, Mr. Sterling wouldn't suspect that I didn't know how to train Mr. McQueen in the first place! Oh Cruz, you are a genius!" she said to herself as she began to map out her exercise plan.

_**Lightning** _

"What?!" Lightning said as he interrupted Cruz's story.

"What's the matter?"

"You were going to put me through an "old man training style" just so you could prove that you are a great trainer, even though you had no idea what you were doing in the first place?!" Lightning asked in an aggravated tone.

"Well it doesn't sound that great once you say it like that," Cruz whined.

"That's because it's a terrible idea. That's cheating. Why didn't you just put me on the simulator as soon as I got there?"

"Well we both know how that turned out after you skipped the process of my routine to try the simulator by yourself," Cruz said with a cunning smile.

Lightning gave her a nasty glare.  _Is this girl for real?_

"What? You're the one who broke the thing!"

"I get it Cruz. You can continue," Lightning said as he rolled his eyes.

_**Cruz** _

"Thank you. As I was saying..."

_**I was finally finished with my routine. I was so pumped about meeting you that I almost forgot something:** _

"What am I going to say to Mr. McQueen when I meet him?!" Cruz exclaimed as she drove around frantically in her office.

She got a cardboard cut out of Lightning and put it to stand in her office. She drove back and forth in front of the cut out and began to practice some greetings:

"Good afternoon Mr. McQueen!"  _Nah, too formal._

"Hey what's up Lightning? How ya' feelin' dude?"  _Eww no! WAY too casual. Besides, I can't call him by his first name, that's not professional._

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"  _Definitely can't do that._

_Come on Cruz think! You have to impress him. You can't be fangirling like this! I got it! Use reverse psychology on him. Make him angry enough so you can show him your positive training techniques. What can I do to make him mad? Oh yeah, just tell him how old he is! I know exactly what to say._

**_The day finally came when Mr. Sterling announced that you were here. Everyone was excited, but no one was as excited as me! I decided to use the simulator so that you could see me on it when you came in. I was determined to impress you. After I got off of the simulator, I saw you watching me train the other rookies. I made sure that you heard me give them encouragement and motivation. You should've seen me blush after you told Mr. Sterling that you liked my attitude. Then the moment I've been waiting for finally came:_ **

"Hey Cruz!" Sterling called as he, Lightning, Luigi, and Guido made their way over to her.

_OH MY GOSH! HE'S HERE! LIGHTNING MCQUEEN IS RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME! Stay calm Cruz, stay calm!_

"Oh hey Mr. Sterling!" Cruz answered with a smile.

"I'd like to introduce you to Lightning McQueen," he said as Lightning drove forward.

"I hear you're the maestro!" Lightning said with a chuckle.

_AAAAAHHHH! He just called me a maestro! He's impressed already! Alright Cruz, time to show him what you rehearsed._

"Mr. Sterling did you say Lightning McQueen was here because, I don't see him anywhere," she said.

Lightning's face dropped. He couldn't believe what he just heard.

_Look at his face! I hope I didn't offend him too much. That means the reverse psychology is working!  
_

"Um, he's right here. Do you not see him?" Luigi asked, as if he was speaking Lightning's own thoughts.

"Nope still don't see him," Cruz said.  _Oh, I've got him now!_

"HE'S RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU! IT'S LIGHTNING MCQUEEN!" Luigi yelled.

_Now it's time to pull out the big guns!_

"He's obviously an impostor. He looks old and broken down-"

"Hey!" Lightning interjected.

"With flabby tires!"

"I do not!" Lightning protested.

_Here we go:_ "USE THAT!" Cruz yelled, causing Lightning to jump back.

"Oh I see, I can use that energy for motivation right? GRRRRRAAAHHH!" Lightning said with a growl.

"It's all about motivation Mr. McQueen! You can use anything negative as fuel to push through to the positive!"  _Oh yeah baby, that's good!_

"I've been pretty positive ever since I was a rookie," Lightning said with a smug grin.

_Alright Cruz, maybe you can fangirl for a minute:_ "I am SO EXCITED to train you! I grew up watching you on TV!" Cruz said with a huge smile.

"Oh, is that right?" Lightning said, feeling flattered.

"These young guys are great and all, but I like a challenge!"

"Not that much older but-" Lightning said with a nervous laugh.

"In fact, I call you my "Senior Project!"

_**BACK TO THE PRESENT...** _

"And you know that the rest was history! I told you all of this because meeting you, Mr. McQueen, was like a dream come true for me. In all my life, I would've never imagined that I would get to meet you face to face. I mean I've always had fantasies (don't judge) of me getting to meet you at one of your races, but getting to train you? That's something I never dreamed of doing! At first I thought you were going to be this cocky veteran racer who knew everything about racing and didn't need my help. It felt that way in the beginning, but once I got to share my hopes and shattered dreams with you, I realized that I read you wrong the whole time. You even used your last chance at winning the Florida 500 to make my dream of becoming a racer a reality. No one has ever done something like that for me in all my life!"

_In fact, no one has ever cared for me like that in my entire life._

"It was no problem Cruz. I wanted you to race for me because I knew that you could do it," Lightning said with a smile.

"Yeah but what do you think of me now Mr. McQueen? I totally blew it! Now you have to put your job on the line just because I had a freak attack a few days ago!" Cruz said as she banged her tire against the desk.

"Cruz, don't do this to yourself. It wasn't your fault."

"Would you stop saying that?!"

"Cruz where is all this coming from?"

She just couldn't hold it back anymore. All the tears came bursting from her eyes and her lips quivered hard.

"I CAN'T AFFORD TO LOSE YOU! There, I said it!" Cruz yelled.

_**Lightning** _

He was crushed by that statement. It hurt him deeply to see Cruz in such pain. He didn't know exactly why she was feeling this way, but all he wanted to do was make every ounce of that pain disappear.

"Cruz please, just tell me what's wrong. Why do you think that you're going to lose me?" Lightning said as he wiped her tears with his front tire.

"I never really had someone who cared about me like this. I mean, my family was there but they always shoved my dreams into a corner. I never told you this, but you gave me hope. Every day I would watch your races on TV and be inspired to hold on to my dreams. Watching your races kept my hope alive. You didn't realize it, but while you were winning all those Piston Cups, you were shaping the confidence of a little girl in Texas who wanted to be just like you. It felt good to finally have someone who believed in me, I just don't think I could handle losing that."

Her words warmed his heart. He never knew how much of an impact he had on Cruz's life. When he first met her, he thought that she was just another fan who treated him like he was a brittle fossil. He knew that she wanted to become a racer because of him, but he didn't realize that he had given her some hope to hold onto.

"Cruz you are not going to lose me. Look, if this is about the argument we had-"

"No. I had a nightmare," Cruz interjected.

"What?"

"I had a nightmare. I overheard you talking to Tex about replacing me with another rookie. You didn't want anything to do with me anymore so you fired me as a racer," Cruz said as she looked away from Lightning.

_Wow. That explains a lot._

"Look Cruz I'm sorry that you had that nightmare, but you've got it all wrong. If anything, you are the one who can fire me!" he said with a small grin.

"Seriously?" Cruz said as she looked at him in shock.

"Yes. I fired three crew chiefs in my rookie season."

"Mr. McQueen!"

"Yeah I know, I was young and stupid back then but the point is, I'm not going anywhere unless you decide to get rid of me."

"Oh wow. I didn't know that," Cruz said as she blushed with embarrassment.

"You're stuck with me Cruz, whether you like it or not. And don't worry about trying to prove your worth to me. I love you as if you were my own daughter, scratch that, you ARE a daughter to me Cruz and nothing you can say or do will ever change that. I couldn't be more proud of you. This accident was a minor set back. I know that when you recover, you would be unstoppable on that track!"

_**Cruz** _

Her heart was doing somersaults. Her bright, beautiful smile was returning to her face.

"Awww Mr. McQueen! I haven't been this happy since the last couple of days!" she said with a huge grin.

Lightning gave her a warm smile. "Yeah, it's good to have my girl back!" he said.

Cruz drove closer to Lightning and wrapped her tires around the side of his face.

"I love you dad!" she said as she hugged him tightly.

His eyes widened as she pulled back from him.

"You realize what you just said right?" he asked.

"Yup! I sure do!" Cruz said as she drove back to her cone.

Lightning chuckled to himself and followed after her.


	8. Maestro of Motivation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter that you are about to read is inspired by two very awesome people! First, I want to give a special thanks to my little sister who gave me this idea for the chapter and for getting me out of my period of writer's block after publishing chapter 7. I also want to thank another great Cars fanfic writer: whipplefilter. I was inspired by one of the chapters in her new story called "The Curve" (link here: /works/11489949/chapters/25772247). Without these two lovely gems, I wouldn't have any idea on where to begin in writing this chapter so I appreciate their contributions to my story. A few notes before reading: Flashbacks are here again, the bold text indicates the flashback. Bold and italics indicate narration within the flashback. Disclaimer: I do not own the songs: "Never Give Up" by Sia and "Bouje" by J Perry feat. Shabba. Also, I do not own the scenes that will appear in the flashbacks. I am merely using them as a reference to my own story. The scenes within the flashbacks belong to Disney and Pixar's Cars films. Hope you all enjoy! :)

**Maestro of Motivation**

_**Cruz** _

It was a quiet morning in Radiator Springs. The sun was barely beginning to rise while Red watered the flowers near Stanley's monument. Everyone in town was resting, having no idea about what transpired between Lightning and Cruz at 3 o' clock in the morning. Although she was up at a late hour with Lightning, Cruz just couldn't go back to sleep. She tossed and turned in the cone, fighting the exhaustion. She finally opened her eyes to see the sun rising over the desert plains. She let out a long, tired yawn and began to exit her cone. She slowly drove past Lightning and Sally's cone and made her way out of the Cozy Cone Motel. It was peaceful in the town, not a soul was on the road and every shop was closed. The traffic light in the middle of the town was flashing it's yellow light as Red continued to water the flowers.

"Good morning Red," Cruz whispered as she drove past him.

Red nodded at Cruz and watched her drive over to Doc's old garage. She stopped in front of the locked doors and stared at the blank, grey wooden planks. Her mood matched those planks at the moment. Even though she poured her heart out to Lightning in the middle of the night, she was still nervous about getting back on the race track. After reflecting on these fears, Cruz proceeded to open the doors with her front tires. The doors creaked open as small dust particles flew into Cruz's mouth. She coughed endlessly as she tried to catch her breath.  _Man, this garage needs a serious makeover!_

She didn't bother to turn on the lights since the sun's rays peered into the room through the window panes. Cruz drove around the garage, gazing at the framed pictures of her many training sequences with Lightning. There were various pictures of them: there was one of them driving side by side on Fireball beach, one where they were trying to "sneak through the window" of tractors at Thomasville, another one with them racing in the mud at Thunder Hollow Speedway, and even their first ride around Willie's Butte hung next to a framed picture of Lightning and Doc on their first race around that desert track. Cruz marveled at all the memories that hung on the wall. While her gaze remained on the pictures, Cruz accidentally bumped into a cardboard box, knocking over Doc's Piston Cups and various racing tapes near the projector. She tried to reverse from the damage to clean up her mess, but that move caused her to bump into the projector. The projector leaned over on its side, nearly causing it to fall and break on the floor. Cruz rushed to the opposite side of the projector and pushed it back on the stand.

_Oh man I have to be more careful! Mr. McQueen would definitely kill me- or worse, Doc's spirit would come and haunt me forever! Okay maybe I'm exaggerating about that last one but still, you can never be too sure._

Cruz drove over to the mess she made and began to put everything back in its place. As she pushed one of Doc's old racing tapes to the side, she saw something under the tape that caught her eye. There was another tape on the floor with a red label on the case. She pressed the clip on the case which caused the tape to slide out. Cruz's eyes widened with shock as she read the label on the tape. It said: " _LIGHTNING McQUEEN RACE '06."_

_NO WAY! Oh my gosh I have to play this!_

Cruz rushed over to the projector to put the tape in. She set everything up properly, but when she pressed the button to start the video, the projector wouldn't turn on.

"Ugh! Seriously?" she said as she continued to press the button.

After several minutes of messing with the controls, Cruz still couldn't get the projector to turn on.

"What's wrong with this thing? Hamilton!"

"Hamilton here," her electronic assistant replied.

"My projector won't turn on, what do I do?" Cruz said in a frantic tone.

"Have you tried pushing the button?" Hamilton asked.

"Yeah like several times!"

"Have you tried plugging it in?"

As soon as Hamilton said that, Cruz looked for the power cord on the projector. Sure enough, the cord was unplugged from the power outlet.

"Oh, ha ha. Thanks Hamilton!"

"No problem," he said as the blue light in Cruz's headlight turned off.

Cruz drove over to the outlet and plugged the cord into the socket. She drove next to the projector and started to watch the video.

**It was surely the race of the century. It was the tie breaker race in California between The King, Chick Hicks, and Lightning McQueen. Almost every store in the country was closed while every bar, restaurant, and public arena were packed with cars all watching this sporting event. At a small home in San Juan, Texas, a pre-teenage Cruz was watching the race on the couch in her living room. She had a massive bowl of popcorn next to her as she wore her red #95 cap with a small Lightning McQueen plush toy close to her side.**

"And there he is, Lightning McQueen! Missing all week and then he turns up in the middle of now where, in a little town called Radiator Springs," Bob Cutlass exclaimed as the camera panned directly on Lightning.

"Wearing white walled tires of all things!" Darrell added as all three racers headed to the starting line.

"What are you watching cariño?" Cruz's father asked as he made his way into the living room. He was a silver 2000 Acura SLX. He glanced at the television and saw Lightning spin off the road and onto the field near the track.

"Oh no!" Cruz screamed as she hugged the plush toy tightly.

"Ay, caramba! He seems to be having an off day, eh mija?" her dad asked.

"No he's not papa. He's going to pull through and win this race!" Cruz objected.

"I know that you love this race car but look at him! He's not focused."

"Papa, I'm sure that he will get through this. I know he will. He has to," Cruz said as she bit her lip.

Lightning had to win this race. Her hope just couldn't die out like that. Cruz needed him to pull through, but Lightning's mind wasn't on the race track, it was on Radiator Springs.

"Whatever you say mija," Cruz's dad said as he left the living room and met her mother in the kitchen.

A few minutes later, Cruz heard her parents yelling at each other in Spanish. She turned the television volume up to try and drown them out, but it was no use. She still heard every hurtful word.  _Come on Lightning, you have to win!_

_**Lightning** _

_**BACK IN RADIATOR SPRINGS...** _

The sun's rays touched Lightning's face as he finally woke up from his slumber. He let out a loud, long yawn and stretched out all four of his tires. He smelled Sally's delicious cooking and made his way out of the cone. He met Sally by the small stove near the dining room.

"Good morning my love!" he said with a big smile.

"Morning Stickers! I thought you would never wake up. I was about to eat all of this food by myself," Sally said with a chuckle.

"Now you know I wouldn't let that happen," Lightning said with a grin.

"I would ask you how you slept last night, but I forgot that you didn't get much sleep because of that knocking. What caused the knocking anyway?" Sally asked as she started to set the table.

"It was Cruz," Lightning said, remembering the look of devastation on her face last night.

"Cruz? What happened? Is she okay?" Sally asked.

"She should be. We had a long conversation last night. She was telling me how she had a nightmare about me firing her and replacing her with another racer."

"What? She should know better than that. You would never do that to her. At least, I should think so," Sally said with a cunning smile.

"Oh come on Sal, of course I wouldn't do that to her. She told me that she was afraid of losing me."

"Yeah I know that feeling," Sally said as a frown appeared on her face.

Lightning immediately turned around to face Sally. "What are you talking about Sal? I would never leave you!"

"You almost did," Sally said as her voice cracked.

"What? When?"

Sally took a deep breath. She was never the emotional type, but when it came to her and Lightning, she was comfortable enough to wear all her emotions on her hood.

"When you crashed," she said in a sobbing tone.

"Oh Sal-"

"I'm just saying that I understand where Cruz is coming from. I mean, you brought so much love and hope to this town and to me. I couldn't bear to lose you Lightning. I was scared out of my mind! I would never be the same without you. I just-"

"Hey, hey! It's alright Sal. That never happened," Lightning said as he gave her a kiss.

"Yeah I know and I'm grateful everyday for that," she said with a smile.

"This is an awkward transition but I'm starving!" Lightning said as he rushed to the table.

"Where's Cruz? She should've been here by now."

"I'll go get her. She's probably still asleep," Lightning said as he headed over to Cruz's cone.

Lightning drove to the cone and knocked on the door with his tire. "Cruz it's time for breakfast!" he yelled, but there was no response.

"Cruz?" he said as he propped up high on his tires and peeked through the small window on the door. The room was empty. There was no Cruz.

_She's not here? She must be at Flo's._

Lightning drove over to Flo's V8 Cafe where everyone was laughing, drinking oil, and having some good conversations. Mater was the first one to notice Lightning of course.

"Hey Buddy!" he shouted with glee.

"Good morning Mater! Good morning everyone."

"Morning McQueen," Sarge said with a salute of his antenna.

"Hey Lightning," Fillmore said, still sounding tired.

"Good morning Lightning!" Luigi said with a bright smile.

"Buongiorno amico mio," Guido replied, ( _Good morning my friend)._

"Good morning kid," Sheriff said.

"Hey Lightning," Ramone replied as he rose high on his tires.

"Morning hot rod," Lizzie said with a wink.

"Hey Sugar! Want something to drink?" Flo asked.

"No thanks Flo. I'm looking for Cruz, has anyone seen her?"

Everyone simultaneously said that they had no idea where she was. Then in the midst of all the confusion, Red came over to Lightning and tapped him on his side.

"Oh hey Red. What is it?" Lightning asked.

Red pointed in the direction of Doc's garage.

"You sure she's in there?"

Red nodded and drove over to an empty gas tank.

"Thanks Red! See you later guys!" Lightning said as he drove to Doc's garage.

He quietly opened the door on the left side and peeked into the room. He heard car engines revving and Bob Cutlass narrating a race.

"Lightning McQueen is right behind the leaders! What a comeback!" Bob announced on the video.

Lightning saw Cruz staring intensely at the projector screen. She was so enthralled, as if she's seeing this race for the first time. Lightning slowly inched his body inside the garage, trying hard not to scare Cruz. He was halfway inside until the open door creaked. Cruz turned around and saw Lightning at the door.

"Hey Mr. McQueen!" she said with a bright smile.

"Hey Cruz. What are you doing in here?"

"Oh I hope you don't mind, I was just watching your racing tapes."

"My racing tapes? How did you find those?" he said in shock.

Lightning hadn't seen those tapes since Doc passed away. Doc used to request tapes from every one of his races just so he could see ways for Lightning to improve in the next season. After Doc got the tapes, he would make Lightning sit down and watch the footage with him.

**Doc and Lightning were sitting in the garage watching Lightning's most recent race on the projector. Doc was watching closely while Lightning zoned out and played with one of the tape cases. Doc immediately paused the video. Lightning jumped and put the case that he was playing with back on the shelf.**

"Did you see that?" Doc asked as he pointed to the screen.

"See what?" Lightning asked, giving Doc a confused look.

"Well if you were paying attention instead of playing around with that tape case you would see the problem," Doc huffed.

_He saw that?_

"There are several things wrong with this frame. One, you were way too close to the wall on that turn. Two, you drove right smack into that patch of tire marbles. You could've slid right into that racer next to you. Three, you're still not paying attention!" Doc yelled as Lightning dropped the tape case that he was balancing on his tire.

"Sorry Doc, it just feels weird to watch myself race. I'd rather experience the race track instead of watching all my moves on replay."

"Well you'll have to get used to it. You may have a lot of talent, but that talent ain't gonna get you anywhere without some sense backing it up."

Lightning looked down at the ground. "You're right Doc. I'm sorry."

"No need to apologize son, that's why you have me. Now I need you to pay attention this time because you really messed up on this next turn," Doc said with a smile.

Lightning smiled back as Doc continued to play the tape.

_**Cruz** _

"Mr. McQueen?" Cruz said, interrupting Lightning's train of thought.

"Huh?" he said, snapping out of his trance.

"You asked me about your racing tapes and I said that I found them under Doc's tapes. Were you even listening?"

"I'm sorry Cruz. I'm really hungry and breakfast is probably getting cold, that's why I came to get you."

"Oh right. You just seemed so shook about me finding the tapes," Cruz insisted. She desperately wanted an explanation.

"I'm not, how you say, "shook" about you finding the tapes. I just thought I hid them better than that," Lightning mumbled under his breath.

"You wanted to hide the tapes from me?" Cruz said with a sly grin.

"I really need to work on keeping things in my mind," Lightning said as he rolled his eyes. "No Cruz I didn't want to hide them from you. Can we go now? I'm starving here!"

"Fine we can go, but we're coming right back here after breakfast," Cruz said as she turned the projector off.

A few moments later, Cruz and Lightning were back in the garage facing each other with the projector still running in the background.

"So, about you trying to hide those tapes. Your engine is full now so you have no excuse Mr. McQueen," she said in a stern tone.

Lightning sighed. "Well, I hid those tapes because I didn't want to see them again. There, you happy now?"

"Oh no, that's not the full story. There's more to it than that," Cruz said as she bit her lip.

"Are you sure you didn't want to be a police car because you're pretty good at interrogating."

"Come on Mr. McQueen, why did you hide the tapes?"

"I haven't seen those tapes since Doc passed. The day that he died, I stormed in here and hid the tapes because I never wanted to see them again. I tried my best to hide them away but somehow you found them."

"I'm sorry Mr. McQueen. I found them by accident. I knocked everything over and when I was putting things back, I found the tapes. I should've put them back but I was so excited and curious! This was like finding gold in a treasure hunt for me."

"Cruz it's okay. You-"

Lightning was interrupted by the sound of metal crashing onto the pavement. Both he and Cruz turned to face the projector. They both witnessed The King's crash and silence fell right between them. Cruz looked over at Lightning; his face was straight, having no expression whatsoever. She on the other hand was stunned. Watching The King's crash made her feel all the intensities that she felt when she watched Lightning's crash. She completely froze.

"Cruz? Are you okay?" Lightning asked looking over at a terrified Cruz.

"Huh? Oh yeah I'm fine," she said with a quick smile.

"Now you're the one zoning out on me," he said with a grin.

"Mr. McQueen, I wanted to ask you something last night but we were both too tired to continue the conversation."

"Go ahead, no one's stopping you."

"Well this might be a little personal: After your crash, how were you able to recover and how did you gain the confidence to get back on the track? What I'm really asking is, how are you so strong?"

"Cruz I'm flattered to hear that you think I'm strong but the truth is, I'm not strong on my own. I was able to recover because of my family here at Radiator Springs. Everyone rallied around me through the entire healing process. They visited me in the hospital often. Flo would bring all my favorite drinks from the cafe, Ramone would show me some new paint designs that he had for me when I got out; Luigi and Guido would try to make me laugh by letting me read some Italian comics. They would get all the jokes, but I was always clueless. Sarge and Fillmore would come and argue most of the time about the best fuel treatments for me. Red, Lizzy, and Sheriff didn't visit often but they came as well. Mater was always there as you can imagine, bringing me balloons and board games for us to play, he would even spend the night at the hospital just to make sure that I was okay."

_Wow. What a lucky car. My parents would come visit me or maybe they would be too busy arguing to notice._

"And Sally! Sally was a real trooper. She came every single day. She was tied with Mater for the most visits. She would bring me some food that she made. I rarely had to eat the hospital food because she packed every meal: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. She would constantly call the nurse to make sure that I was getting treated properly. We spent long nights just talking about our future together and my racing career. You see Cruz, I didn't get out of that state on my own. I had a strong support system."

"Wow. You are truly lucky Mr. McQueen."

"Oh come on Cruz, don't act like you don't have the same support as me. We all love you Cruz and from what I've experienced, I know that we will be right beside you every step of the way."

Lightning's words warmed her heart. She knew that she had a family here in Radiator Springs, but she was concerned about her own family. Her family was a broken one: her parents got divorced when she was young, they were impoverished and lived by paycheck to paycheck, and they rarely talked about each other's feelings or dreams. Come to think of it, all Cruz's parents wanted for her was a comfortable life with a money making job. They didn't want her to aim high because they wanted to protect her from shattered expectations. When she got the job at the Rusteze Racing Center, Cruz packed up all her things, left her mother's house, and never looked back.

"Thanks Mr. McQueen. I really appreciate everyone here," she said with a smile.

"Do you still have your speakers with you?" Lightning asked.

"Yeah why?"

"Let's go over to your cone and you'll find out," Lightning said as he drove out of the garage.

They both made their way to Cruz's cone.  _What is going on here? Why is Mr. McQueen so hyped up? I don't like where this is going!_

"Alright, turn on the speakers and open your playlist," Lightning said with a big smile.

"Okay," Cruz said as she opened her playlist.

"Um, remember the night that you told me about your racing dreams, you know the night that I yelled at you?"

"Yeah what about it?"

"Well after you left, I felt bad about yelling at you like that so I decided to get you back on the road with me. I wanted to surprise you with some of your workout routines. I tried to find the workout song you used to train me and well-"

"Mr. McQueen?"

"So in order to find the song... I asked Hamilton to go into your playlist," Lightning said with a nervous smile.

"You went through my playlist Mr. McQueen?!"

"I just added one song! Just look up "Never Give Up" by Seata please?"

"I still can't believe you went through my playlist. And you had the nerve to add a song!"

"Just look up the song Cruz!"

"Hamilton."

"Hamilton here."

"Play "Never Give Up" by Seata."

The Indian beat filled the cone as Lightning began to dance.

"Mr. McQueen please don't do that. No offense but it's a bit horrifying to watch you dance."

"Shhhhhh! Just listen:"

_I've battled demons that won't let me sleep_

_Called to the sea but she abandoned me_

_But I won't never give up, no, never give up, no, no_

_No, I won't never give up, no, never give up, no, no_

Lightning was mouthing the words and dancing like crazy! Cruz was just laughing her wheels off at first, but then the chorus made her start dancing:

_And I won't let you get me down_   
_I'll keep gettin' up when I hit the ground_   
_Oh, never give up, no, never give up no, no, oh_   
_I won't let you get me down_   
_I'll keep gettin' up when I hit the ground_   
_Oh, never give up, no, never give up no, no, oh_   
_I'll find my way, find my way home, oh, oh, oh_   
_I'll find my way, find my way home, oh, oh, oh_

Both Lightning and Cruz were dancing and singing along to this inspirational tune. Although Cruz was the one dancing well, while Lightning danced off beat, they still had fun together in their mini jam session. When the song was over, they made their way over to Willie's Butte and drove to the starting line.

"Alright Cruz, play the song," Lightning said as he revved his engine.

"You got it!" she said with a smile.

_Everybody dance and bouje bouje_

_Put your hands up souke souke_

_Shake your hips and woule woule oh_

Lightning glared at Cruz. "Wrong song," he said in frustration.

"Oops! Sorry about that," Cruz said with a nervous laugh.

_And I won't let you get me down_   
_I'll keep gettin' up when I hit the ground_   
_Oh, never give up, no, never give up no, no, oh_

As soon as the song started, they drove around Willie's Butte side by side into the beautiful sunset on the dessert plains.


	9. Push It!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a reminder: long italic paragraphs are Cruz's diary entries, short sentences in italics are people's train of thought, and the bold text indicates a flashback. Without further adieu, here is the next chapter. Hope you enjoy!

**Push It!**

**_Cruz_ **

_It's quiet- a little too quiet. In a few days, I'll be back on the race track and just the mere thought of it is driving me crazy! The stillness of this cone is not helping me either. I just wanted to drive into my cone so I could get some peace and quiet but I'm anxious about getting back to racing. It all happened so fast. It seems like just the other day I was dreaming of becoming a racer and meeting Lightning McQueen, and before I knew it, I was face to face with my childhood hero! Not only did I get to meet Lightning, I also got to race for him! After my surprising victory at the Florida 500, I actually got to become a racer! I even got to race for Dinoco, I mean how awesome is that? I was on a roll with my winning streak, and now I'm sitting here wondering if all of this was just a one-shot deal._

**It was a late evening in the small town of San Juan, Texas. A young Cruz was parked in front of the television in her living room, watching another racing event. It was the Los Angeles 400 at the Los Angeles International Speedway. There were only ten more laps to go and Lightning McQueen was holding a solid lead. Cruz's** **eyes were glued to the television screen as she tracked Lightning's every move.**

"You can do it Lightning!" Cruz screamed.

"Ay mija! Keep the noise down," her mother said as she made her way into the living room.

Cruz's mother was an amber 2002 Spanish GTI Seat Leon. She had soft, brown eyes and a warm smile. She only wanted the best for her daughter, even if it meant protecting her from unrealistic goals. She loved Cruz to death and would go above and beyond to prove that to her (just as any good mother would).

"Are you still watching that race? You need to get to bed. It's a school night," her mother said as she drove toward the television set to turn it off.

Cruz immediately sprung into action, blocking her mother from pushing the power button.

"Mom please, there are only ten laps left!" Cruz pleaded.

"Give me a break. That's what you said ten laps ago!"

"Mom pretty please! Lightning is leading. I have to see him cross the finish line."

"Oh my goodness. What is it with you and this race car?"

"Mom, he's not just any race car. He's Lightning McQueen! He is already a three-time winning Piston Cup Champion. He's the fastest car on the track and he always wins," Cruz said as she gave her mother a big smile.

Cruz's bright smile turned into a frown as she stared at her mother's blank expression.

"Sweetheart, you are too obsessed with him. You buy all his merchandise, you constantly go on and on about him, and you stay up late on school nights just to watch him race."

"Well I am a huge fan mom," Cruz said as she shifted her attention back to the TV screen.

"Cruz honey, he doesn't even know you."

That statement pierced her soul. Cruz forgot all about the race as she turned to face her mother.

"Mom, I know he doesn't know me but one day he will. When I'm racing on that track and winning those Piston Cups, he will definitely know me then. Maybe he'll want to recruit me for his racing school, or even better: he might want to be my sponsor!"

"Cruz-"

"And then we'll be able to hang out with each other all the time. He could teach me all his tricks!"

"Cruz, sweetie-"

"What if I become the next #95?! Oh my gosh! That would be so awesome!"

"Cruz!" he mother yelled. "Sweetheart, what did I tell you about these fantasies?"

Cruz looked down at the floor. She pushed the button to turn the TV off. There was complete silence between the two of them.

"You told me to dream small..." Cruz mumbled.

"Dream small or-"

"Not at all. I get it mom," she said with a huff.

"Oh sweetie, I only want what's best for you. I don't want you to chase some fantasy and get caught up in this racing world. That kind of lifestyle is not for everyone. Besides, racing is dangerous. Crashes happen all the time. If you crash, your career is over! Is that what you want for yourself? Why don't you choose another dream? You want someone to train you, but what if you became a teacher? You can train all the young minds and help shape the future generations."

"A teacher?" Cruz grimaced.

"It's a real job sweetie, and you can really make a difference."

"I don't want to be a teacher mom. I want to be a racer!"

"You can teach racing school then."

"Are you kidding? I want to do the racing, not teach it."

"Mija that's enough. I need you to go upstairs, brush your teeth and get ready for bed. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes mom," Cruz said as she drove up the ramp to the bathroom.

_Was my mother right? Is this lifestyle for me? If I crash or have another accident, my career is over just like that. How can I just-_

A beeping sound and a flashing blue light interrupted her thoughts.

"Hamilton here! Call from Chester Whipplefilter," her electronic assistant said.

"Hello Mr. McQueen," Cruz answered in a sing-song voice.

"Hey Cruz! I need you to meet me at Flo's Cafe," her mentor said with a tone of urgency.

"Right now? Can't a girl get some time for herself?" Cruz said with a sigh.

Although she really wanted some time alone, she was grateful for the interruption (her mind was spiraling out of control!).

"Yes I need you now," Lightning said as he hung up.

_Oh well, at least I'm getting out of this crazy cone!_

Cruz made her way to Flo's V8 Cafe where most of the townies waited for her to arrive. She pulled up to the front of the gas station where everyone crowded around her.

"Hey guys!" Cruz said with a bright smile.

"Hey Cruz!" everyone answered in unison.

"How ya' been honey? It feels like I haven't seen you in ages!" Flo exclaimed.

Cruz laughed. "I'm doing good Flo. I'm so happy to see you guys!"

"Are you ready to get back to racing?" Ramone asked.

She paused for a moment.  _Am I ready?_

"You okay hun?" Sally asked.

"Yeah I'm fine. Of course I'm ready to get back to racing. There's no other place I'd rather be," she said with a crooked smile.

"Really? You don't sound too confident," Lizzy interjected.

"No really, I am ready to race," Cruz said as she bit her lip.

"I can't hear you soldier!" Sarge yelled.

"I SAID I'M READY TO RACE!" Cruz screamed.

Everyone stared at her in shock. The silence was terrifying.  _Oh great Cruz, look what you did!_

After a few minutes of intense staring, everyone gave a resounding cheer.  _Whew! That was close!_

Lightning laughed as he drove closer to Cruz.

"You ready to go?" he asked with a smile.

"Wait, where are we going?" Cruz asked in a confused tone.

"Just follow me," Lightning said as he drove toward Ornament Valley.

Cruz pulled out from the gas station and sped up next to Lightning. The two were driving side by side, leaving the town.

"So, how do you really feel about getting back to racing?" Lightning asked while glancing over at Cruz.

"Honestly, I'm a bit nervous," Cruz said as she bit her lip.

Lightning chuckled. "I expected that. Besides, it's been a while."

"Yeah. That's what I'm afraid of. I took such a long break. How would I be able to get back into the swing of things?"

"Don't worry Cruz, you'll be fine. I bet you'll feel better once you get on that track," Lightning said with a warm smile.

They both arrived at the Figure-8 Speedway (a racetrack located in Carburetor County, near Ornament Valley), where Sheriff, Mater, Luigi, and Guido were waiting near the starting line of the track. Sheriff hooked up the speed radar to track Cruz's speed once she crosses the finish line. Mater and Guido were wearing big, blue afros with the number 51 on the front in yellow. Luigi was atop the flag stand ready to wave the green flag. Lightning and Cruz entered the stadium and made their way over to the crew.

"They're here!" Mater shouted as he jumped around.

"Thanks for setting everything up guys," Lightning said with a big smile.

"No problem buddy! Hey Cruz, you ready get out on that there track?" Mater asked with a giant grin.

"Yes I am," she said with a slight smile.

"Alright, everything is all set and ready to go," Sheriff said as he turned on the speed radar.

"Puoi farlo Cruz (You can do it Cruz)!" Guido shouted with glee.

"Okay Cruz you're up," Lightning said as he drove near the starting line with a headset on.

Cruz took a deep breath and made her way to the starting line. She rubbed her tires into the asphalt on the track. She stared straight ahead at the distance of road before her. She closed her eyes and took another deep breath.  _It's alright Cruz, don't worry about it._ _You can do this._

"You okay Cruz? What's going on?" Lightning asked through the microphone on his headset.

"Um I think I need a mantra," Cruz said with a nervous laugh.

"You need a what-now? If you need some pasta we can pick some up for ya on our way back home!" Mater yelled across the track to Cruz.

Lightning laughed out loud. "No Mater, she said that she needs a mantra not pasta."

"What's that?" Mater asked, looking confused as ever.

"You know the phrase I usually say before I start my races?"

"Oh! She can't use yours?"

"Of course not! I can't just steal Mr. McQueen's mantra, I need to make one up!" Cruz yelled back to Mater.

"We can work on that later. For now, just say anything to get yourself in the zone," Lightning said.

_Okay Cruz you heard him. Get in the zone._

"Alright, here we go. You are a fluffy cloud and a beautiful, bright banana babe!" Cruz whispered to herself with a smile.

"A banana babe?" Lightning said as he cringed.

"Hey, you said to say anything!" Cruz yelled back.

"I want you to take it slow. You're going to do one lap around this track so we can see what your top speed is. Alright let's do this thing. Luigi?"

"On your mark...get set...GO!" Luigi yelled as he waved the green flag.

Cruz revved up her engine and sped off from the starting line. The wind was shooting over her as she felt the rush of the track under her wheels. She anticipated every turn and zipped past the finish line as she ended her lap.

"Nice job!" Lightning beamed.

"GIT-R-DONE 51! Whoo hoo!" Mater cheered.

Cruz drove off the track and made her way over to Lightning, Mater, Guido, and Sheriff.

"How do you feel now?" Lightning asked with a grin.

"I feel amazing! You were right, I needed to get back on this track. I'm so pumped!" Cruz said with a huge smile.

"Let me ask you something: do you know your top speed?" Lightning asked.

"Well I'm usually topping out at 193 on the simulator. Sometimes I even go up to 198."

"Wanna see how fast you were going?" Lightning asked as he pointed his wheel to the speed radar.

Cruz went in front of the speed radar and saw that her speed was 200 miles per hour.

"200 miles per hour?! Whoa!" she beamed.

"Yup, that's what it says. If you keep this up I'm going to have to give you a speeding ticket," Sheriff said with a chuckle.

"I think you can go faster than that," Lightning said with a determined look on his face.

"Faster? I think that's pretty fast even for me," Cruz said in a nervous tone.

"Do you know what Storm's top speed is?"

"214 miles per hour," Cruz said as her engine rattled a bit.

"Exactly and guess what? You still beat him! I think you can go as fast as he can, maybe even faster," Lightning said as he nudged Cruz's side with his front tire.

"What are you trying to say Mr. McQueen?"

"I'm saying that you need to push yourself a little more."

"Push myself?"

"Yes! Push it to the limit, give everything you've got. I know you have it in you, we just need to bring it out. This time I want you to do three laps. I want to see that speed increase with every lap okay?"

"Yes sir!" Cruz said as she headed back to the starting line.

"Alright Luigi let's do this again," Lightning said into his microphone.

"On your mark...get set...and GO!" Luigi yelled as he waved the flag again.

Cruz took off from the starting line and zipped along the turns of the track. She took Lightning's advice and tried to push herself to go faster. She felt her engine getting hot as she forced herself to speed up. She started to shake slightly when she came to the second lap.

"Take it easy Cruz, don't push yourself too hard. I don't want you to hurt yourself," Lightning said as he watched the yellow race car with concern.

"I'll be fine Mr. McQueen. I know what I'm doing," Cruz said as she continued to rev her engine. Her body shook more violently as she entered turn three. She could feel the fluid burning in her gas tank.

_**Lightning** _

"Cruz listen to me. You have to ease into your turns. If you come in too sharp you're going to hit the wall," Lightning said as he noticed her body shaking with every turn she made.

_Take it easy Cruz. Please don't hurt yourself. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything._

His eyes were fixed on her every move. She kept shaking with each turn. All that shaking was making Lightning nervous. With every turn, she came closer and closer to hitting the wall. Every time he tried to warn her about hitting the wall, she would tell him that she knew what she was doing. He didn't mean to panic, he was just speaking from his own experience. He knew what wiping out felt like. He knew how painful it was to slam your body up against the wall and fly off the track. The last thing he wanted was for Cruz to have a wreck, not on the practice track. He breathed a sigh of relief once Cruz crossed the finish line on the final lap. She came in breathing heavily. Lightning rushed over to her as soon as she came off the track.

"Cruz are you okay?! I'm so sorry. When I told you to push yourself I didn't mean for you to go crazy!" Lightning said as he panicked.

"Mr. McQueen I'm fine. I was just burning off some steam," Cruz said with a smile.

"Don't scare me like that! You didn't even listen to me when I told you to watch your turns!"

"Calm down son. She said she's okay," Sheriff said as he drove next to Lightning.

"You alright buddy? You were really freaking out just now," Mater said with concern.

Lightning took a deep breath. "Sorry guys, I don't know what came over me. Thanks for meeting us out here and helping us train today."

"No problem buddy! We'll always be here to cheer Cruz on!"

"Well we'd better get going the sun is starting to set," Sheriff said as he went to turn off the speed radar.

"Wait, I want to see my speed!" Cruz said as she rushed over to the front of the monitor.

The screen read 210 miles per hour.

"Yes!" Cruz exclaimed as she made doughnuts in the grass near the track. Lightning looked on as Cruz surrounded herself in a cloud of smoke.

"Hey Mater come here," Lightning whispered as Mater drove over to him.

"What's up buddy, what do you need?"

"I want you to meet me in the tractor field tonight. I have a surprise for Cruz," Lightning said with a grin.

"You got it buddy! This is gonna be good!" Mater said as he drove off behind Sheriff, Luigi, and Guido.

"You ready to go Mr. McQueen?" Cruz said as she drove over to Lightning.

"Oh yeah. Let's head home," Lightning said with a smile.

**BONUS**

That night while all the townies were resting, Lightning went over to Cruz's cone and knocked on the garage door. The door slowly opened to reveal a tired Cruz in the doorway. She barely had her eyes open as she turned on her headlights and saw Lightning in front of her.

"Mr. McQueen?" she mumbled as she finally opened her eyes.

"Hey Cruz, come on out. We're going for a drive!"

"Are you serious? We're going on a drive at this hour?" Cruz said as she yawned.

"Come on Cruz, you can sleep when you get back," Lightning said as he slowly drove away.

"Mr. McQueen what are you talking about? Where are we going?" Cruz whispered as she drove out of her cone.

"You'll see, just come on!" Lightning said as he drove away from the Cozy Cone Motel.

Cruz groaned as she followed behind him. Soon they arrived at the entrance of the tractor field. They met Mater at the gate of the fence.

"Mater? What are you doing here?" Cruz asked with a confused look on her face.

"We got a surprise for ya Cruz," Mater said with a creepy laugh.

Cruz turned to Lightning and glared at him. "Guys this isn't funny. I want to go back to sleep."

"Don't worry Cruz this will all be over soon," Lightning said with a creepy smile.

"You guys are freaking me out!"

Suddenly Mater snapped a windshield cover over Cruz's eyes.

"Hey! I can't see a thing! Guys this isn't funny!"

Mater hooked Cruz's bumper and towed her into the middle of the field.

"Guys? Guys? I don't like this!" Cruz whispered to herself.

"Hey Cruz, how ya' doing on this fine evening?" Lightning asked. All Cruz could hear was the sound of his voice coming through her radio transmission.

"Mr. McQueen this is a sick joke!"

"It's not a joke. I'm teaching you how to listen to me. My job as your crew chief is to guide you along on the race track. I can't guide you if you don't listen."

"Why am I blindfolded?"

"I figured the less you see, the more you'll want to listen to me," Lightning said with a smirk.

"Haha. You're cruel Mr. McQueen and you're a poet! I bet you didn't even know it!" Cruz said as she laughed.

"Now, I'm going to guide you through this field of tractors. All you have to do is listen to my voice and follow my instructions, got it?"

"Do I have a choice?" Cruz said with a huff.

"Alright. I want you to drive forward slowly," Lightning said as Cruz started to drive forward.

She felt the grass rustling against her fenders. The traction on her wheels made her slow down even more.

"This is very weird," she said as she continued to drive.

She was heading toward a sleeping tractor in the middle of the field.

"Alright I want you to turn left," Lightning said as Cruz was approaching the tractor.

"My left or your left?"

"Uh, my left is your right so go right."

"My right?"

"Yes, your right!"

Cruz went to her right and successfully maneuvered around the tractor.

"Alright, now I need you to keep going straight. I'll tell you when to stop."

Cruz kept on going straight until she approached a line of sleeping tractors. Lightning was trying so hard not to laugh while he and Mater were watching Cruz.

"Okay stop now!" he said as Cruz came to a full stop.

"What now Mr. McQueen? Mr. McQueen?" Cruz called.

There was no answer. Cruz's engine was racing. She couldn't see anything and Lightning wasn't speaking to her anymore.

"Hello? Mr. McQueen why aren't you answering me?"

Suddenly, Lightning and Mater drove up behind Cruz. Lightning revved his engine while Mater honked his horn. Cruz jumped back, knocking over one of the tractors. As that tractor fell on it's back, it knocked down the entire line of tractors. Soon the whole field of tractors fell on their backs and passed gas simultaneously. Lightning and Mater burst out in laughter as Cruz kept her mouth open in shock. Mater took his hook and tore off the windshield cover from Cruz's eyes. She looked around at the field of fallen tractors and glared at Lightning and Mater.

"Surprise!" they said in unison as they kept laughing.

Before Cruz could yell at them in anger, the sound of a raging bull filled the air as a bright light was shining in the distance.

"That's Frank," Mater said as he and Lightning sped away from Cruz.

Cruz turned around slowly to see Frank (a huge thresher?), charging toward her. She let out a shrill shriek as she drove away to catch up with Lightning and Mater. Frank was gaining on her, almost ripping off her spoiler with his spikes. After the freak chase, they all made it out of the field and drove home. This was surely a night that Cruz would never forget.


	10. Like Father, Like Daughter

**Like Father, Like Daughter**

_**Cruz** _

The day finally arrived. It was still dark outside, but all the Radiator Springs townies were wide awake. They were all getting ready for the big send-off: Cruz was officially getting back to racing. Everyone was gathering at Flo's V8 Cafe while Mack attached himself to Cruz's trailer. Sally and Flo were in the kitchen cooking up a big breakfast for everyone. Luigi and Guido rushed in and out of the tire shop, packing tires into the trailer. Mater offered to help the ladies in the kitchen (he was mostly there to be the taste tester). Lightning and Cruz were in Ramone's paint shop getting touch ups on their paint jobs.

"Hoo wee! You look amazing Cruz," Ramone said as he unveiled Cruz's updated Dinoco paint job.

"I love it Ramone! You are a true artist," Cruz said as she marveled at herself in the mirror.

"Ah, it's nothing really," Ramone said as he blushed.

Lightning emerged from the other painting booth, revving his engine. He still had his blue Fabulous Lightning McQueen paint job, but he added a few Dinoco decals to his sides.

"Alright Mr. McQueen! Looking mighty fabulous there!" Cruz said with a big smile.

"Thanks Cruz. You don't look too bad yourself!" he said as they both stood side by side in front of the mirror.

All of the townies were gushing over Lightning and Cruz as they made their way to Flo's. Everyone enjoyed the delicious breakfast that Sally and Flo made as they were laughing and having a great time. Cruz smiled as she saw how happy everyone was.

_This season is going to be great! I can feel it._

The loud ringing of the phone near the front of the cafe broke her concentration.

"I'll get it!" Cruz said as she sped over to the phone.

Tex appeared on the small screen within the phone.

"Hi Tex!" Cruz said with a bright smile.

"Hello Cruz! It's great to see ya' dear. How ya' feelin'?" he asked.

"I'm doing well. Just can't wait to get back on that track," she said with a gleam in her eye.

"That's good to hear. I'll be rooting for ya' sweetheart," Tex said with a wink.

"Hey Tex!" Lightning said as he made his way over to Cruz.

"Hey Lightning! Ready to get back on that crew chief podium?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," Lightning said with a smile.

"Alright then, I'll see you two in Los Angeles in a few hours. Hope you guys drive safe and make it there on time."

"You got it Tex. We'll be there," Lightning said.

"Good luck Cruz!" Tex said with a smile.

"Thanks Tex!" Cruz said as she hung up the phone.

She turned to face Lightning, giving him a nervous smile.

"You ready to go?" Lightning asked as he made his way over to Mack.

Cruz nodded as she followed behind. Luigi and Guido were already in the trailer with the tires neatly packed away in the back. Lightning pulled over to the side and let Cruz go up the ramp first.

"Good luck sugar!" Flo said with a smile.

"Keep your head up high soldier!" Sarge commanded.

"You can do it Cruz!" Mater yelled as he jumped around with excitement.

"Take it easy out there," Sheriff said.

"What? She's going off to college too?" Lizzy said with a confused look on her face.

Sally drove closer to the ramp. "You are going to do great hun. Just relax and listen to Stickers," she said with a soft chuckle.

Cruz gave her a warm smile. "Thank you Ms. Sally."

"No problem sweetie. Keep an eye on Stickers for me until we meet you guys in LA. Make sure he behaves himself," Sally said, giving Lightning a stern look.

"Don't I always?" Lightning asked with a smug grin.

Sally rolled her eyes and gave him a kiss on his fender.

"I love you Sal," Lightning said as he returned the kiss.

"I love you too," Sally said as she snuggled next to Lightning.

"Um, can you two love birds hurry this along? We need to get moving," Cruz said as she grimaced at the sight of their public affection.

Lightning laughed. "See you guys there," he said as he got into the trailer with Cruz.

The trailer door closed behind him as Mack pulled off from Radiator Springs.

"California here we come!" Mack said as he drove off.

The drive was long and quiet. They made a few stops along the way to stretch their wheels and replenish their gas tanks. After a few hours, they finally made it to the Los Angeles International Speedway. Cruz stared out the window as they were approaching the track.

_**Lightning** _

He could tell that Cruz was nervous. She didn't speak much for most of the ride. He watched as she stared at the window with a disoriented gaze. He could hear her engine rattling and he could see the slight tapping of her tire against the window pane.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Lightning asked, breaking the awkward silence.

"Huh? Oh, I'm feeling nervous, anxious, and excited all at once," Cruz said as she bit her lip.

"You'll be fine. Once you get back into the swing of things, all that nervousness will go away," he said with a comforting smile. "Just remember, I'm here to guide you. If you listen to me, you'll do great."

"Yes sir," Cruz said with a smile.

Mack dropped off the trailer to the appropriate #51 parking spot. A crowd of paparazzi was surrounding the trailer, with cameras flashing rapidly. Cruz took a deep breath.

"Well this is it," she said as she looked at all of the reporters waiting outside.

"Listen, I need you to focus. Don't worry about the press and don't worry about Storm. Just worry about yourself," Lightning said.

Cruz gave him a small nod. Luigi and Guido were already unloading the tires. The rest of the team made it just before them and were waiting for Cruz at the Dinoco pit area. Sally was there too, eagerly waiting to cheer Cruz on. Mater had a massive, blue dinosaur hat on with the number 51 plastered over the front in yellow. He knocked over some tires as he drove to the front to get a better view.

"I'm going to give you a few minutes to get yourself together. I'll be waiting for you outside with the others," Lightning said as he pressed the button to open the trailer door. He fought off the swarm of paparazzi outside.

"She's not taking any questions right now. Please save them until the end of the race," Lightning said in a stern tone as he attempted to get the large crowd to leave.

_**Cruz** _

She could hear her mentor clearing the crowd outside. Cruz smiled to herself, thinking about how lucky she was to have Lightning in her corner. She took a deep breath and looked at all the trophies on the shelf.

_Wow. I can't believe that I won all of those! Mr. McQueen is right. I need to calm down and focus on myself. You can do this Cruz._

She closed her eyes and took another deep breath. "I am a fluffy cloud and a beautiful, bright banana babe," she smiled as she said her mantra to herself.

_I can do this. Come on Cruz, just get out there and win this race!_

"Hey Cruz, are you ready?" Mack called from outside the trailer.

"Yup! I'm ready," Cruz said as she pushed the button to open the trailer door.

She emerged from the dark trailer like a champion. She had a confident smile on her face and a twinkle in her brown eyes. She beamed with excitement as she made her way over to her pit area.

_This is it Cruz! Don't let anything ruin your focus._

"Oh my goodness! Is that costume girl?" a familiar voice said in the distance.

Cruz knew that voice all too well. She rolled her eyes as she groaned in annoyance.

_Oh great. Here we go._

"Hi Jackson," Cruz said through the grit of her teeth as she turned to face him.

Sure enough, Jackson was right in front of Cruz with a smug grin on his face.

"Long time, no see! I was starting to think that you were never going to come back. Don't worry, I've been keeping your trophies warm for you," he said with a condescending laugh.

"What do you want Jackson?" Cruz asked with a huff.

"I just wanted to say welcome back and I hope you stay safe out there. We wouldn't want another accident like last time right?"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Cruz said as she revved her engine in anger.

"Calm down costume girl. I just wanted to warn you: if you stay out of my way, then I'll stay out of yours. Nobody will get hurt. Got it?"

"Excuse me?"

"Good! Well, I'll see you out there!" Jackson said as he sped away from Cruz.

Cruz's moment of confidence slipped away from her faster than Jackson's overpowering exit. It seemed like he took her confidence with him in that split second. She felt the brush of cold air as he whipped past her. All she could do was sigh as she drove over to her pit area. Everyone greeted her with a warm and cheerful welcome. Lightning also saw Cruz approaching and drove up to meet her.

"You okay?" he asked as he noticed Cruz's defeated appearance.

"I-"

Before she had time to answer, Jackson drove up to the both of them with a smug grin on his face.

"Good morning champ! You're looking  _fabulous_ today," he said with a cunning smile.

"Um, thank you," Lightning said with an awkward smile.

"Well, see you on the track costume girl!" Jackson said as he drove off.

Cruz let out an aggravated sigh.  _I really can't stand that dude! UGH!_

"Did he say anything to you?" Lightning asked, seeing the frustration all over her face.

Cruz didn't want to relive the moment. It was bad enough that Jackson ruined her mood, she didn't want Lightning to get upset too.

"It doesn't matter," she said with a sigh.

Lightning cocked a brow. "What did he say?" he asked.

Cruz just sighed. She knew that he wasn't going to let up. "He just told me to stay out of his way and that no one would get hurt if I did."

"So, he threatened you?" Lightning asked as his eyes widened.

"Mr. McQueen it's okay. You don't need to make a big deal out of nothing. I need to focus on myself remember?"

"Yeah you're right. Don't worry about him. I'll keep an eye on him for you. Just stay focused," Lightning said as he made his way to his crew chief podium.

All the racers started to get into their poll positions on the track. Since Cruz wasn't able to do her practice laps (due to her recovery from her anxiety attacks), she started the race at the back of the pack. Jackson, of course was in the top position. Cruz looked ahead at all of the cars in front of her. She was taking deep breaths as the race was mere seconds away from starting.

"Hey, take it easy. You'll be fine. Remember, stay focused," Lightning's voice filled Cruz's mind as she heard him through the microphone.

Cruz smiled as she felt her confidence returning.

"Boogity, boogity, boogity! Let's go racing!" Darrell Cartrip yelled as the Piston Cup pittie waved the green flag in the air.

Cruz mustered up all her strength and instantly passed several cars within the first few minutes. Each lap went by quickly. Cruz was inching herself between each car, heeding the instructions that Lightning was giving her. The sun was setting as the race was heading into the final 10 laps. Cruz made her way to the pits while Guido replaced her tires.

"You're doing great! This is it, 10 more laps to go. Pace yourself, chase Storm down, and bring home that Piston Cup," Lightning said with a smile as Cruz pulled off from the pits.

She was getting closer to Jackson. Every lap brought her to a higher rank on the leaderboard. It was the final lap and Cruz was right on Jackson's tail. Danny was coming up behind her, placing Cruz in between him and Jackson. All three of them were approaching the finish line. Instead of staying in a line, both Jackson and Danny moved right next to Cruz. They were on each side of her as they all fought bumper to bumper, ready to cross the finish line. Cruz was in the middle, but she saw a small opening near the wall around Jackson's side.

_If I go near the wall and manuver around these guys, I'll be sure to win this race!_

Before Cruz could make her move, Lightning quickly saw the opening as well.

"Cruz, I know what you're thinking. It's a bad idea. Danny is going to try and move to the middle. If you stay on the inside of the track you'll be able to pass both of them at the same-"

Before Lightning could finish his statement, Cruz moved over to the wall and tried to squeeze herself through the tiny opening. She hit the wall on her way through, causing her to lose her balance and veer right into Jackson. Jackson moved over to avoid getting hit while Danny moved away from Jackson to avoid getting knocked off the track.

_**Lightning** _

Lightning's engine raced as he saw Cruz hit the wall. He wanted to come down from the podium and get her off the track as quickly as possible. He saw her rear end hit the wall while the front half of her body swerved into Storm's direction.

"I don't believe what I'm seeing Bob! Cruz Ramirez is loose!" Darrell said, noticing Cruz swerving wildly on the track.

"So are Danny and Storm!" Bob said as he saw all three cars veering out of control. They created a large cloud of smoke around them.

Lightning started to panic. His engine was racing and his oil pressure was through the roof.

"Cruz! Are you okay?! Can you hear me?!"

He kept yelling into his head set, but Cruz didn't give him an answer. Sally, Mater, and the rest of the team looked on with concern. They've never seen Lightning so frantic before.

"Cruz I need you to answer me! Cruz!"

There was still no answer. He couldn't take it anymore. He got down from the podium and took off his headset. He watched closely as he saw Cruz struggling to maintain her balance on the track. She emerged from the smoke, but she was still trying to keep her body steady. Lightning wanted to race on to that track himself to prevent anything bad from happening to her. He wanted to jump into action and save his precious girl from having a terrible accident.

_Come on Cruz! Please pull through!_

While Jackson and Danny came out of the smoke cloud, trying to maintain their line on the track, Cruz was able to speed past them once she caught herself and managed to keep from falling off the track. Cruz crossed the finish line with a huge smile on her face. Fireworks were blazing in the black, night sky while everyone in the crowd cheered for Cruz. Lightning breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that his protègè was alright.

_**Cruz** _

After she received her trophy, along with many compliments from Tex and the rest of the team, Cruz was heading back to the Dinoco building to put her Piston Cup in the trophy cabinet. As she was making her way to the building, she bumped into Jackson again. Jackson glared at her while she gave him a smug grin.

"I thought I told you to stay out of my way!" he yelled.

"Listen Jackson, I won fair and square. You just have to deal with it," she said, beaming with pride.

"This isn't over! I'll make sure you-"

Jackson froze when he saw the massive dent that Cruz had on the left side of her rear bumper.

"Nice dent you got there," he said sarcastically.

"What?" Cruz said with a confused look on her face.

"Ooooooo! Wait till the Champ sees that!" Jackson laughed as he drove away from Cruz.

_Did he just say...dent?!_

Cruz quickly made her way to the building and rushed to find a mirror. She went to the small bathroom and stopped in front of the body mirror that was near a small sink. Her mouth dropped open as she saw the huge dent in her rear bumper. It was a deep dent that completely scratched her paint job and chipped her tail light. It was a nasty scar.

"Oh my gosh! Mr. McQueen is going to  _kill_ me!" Cruz said as she rushed out of the bathroom.

After she put her Piston Cup in the trophy cabinet, Cruz started to drive frantically around the lobby.

"What am I going to do? How am I going to hide this?" she asked aloud to herself as she continued to drive back and forth.

**_Lightning_ **

"Great job team." Lightning beamed as Fillmore, Sarge, Luigi, and Guido were packing the tires and fuel away.

"Always a pleasure," Sarge said with a smile.

"No problem man," Fillmore chimed in.

Sally drove over to Lightning. "You had me worried there for a minute," she said.

"What do you mean?" he asked with a confused look on his face.

"Well you had a mini panic attack a few minutes ago."

"Oh that. I'm sorry Sal, I was just-"

"Yeah I get it. You thought Cruz was going to get hurt, at least that's what it seemed like at first."

"Yeah. I'm glad she's alright. Do you know where she is?"

"I saw her heading in that direction," Sally said, pointing her tire to the Dinoco building.

"Oh right! She must be putting her trophy away. I'll meet you back out here," Lightning said as he drove off.

When he came into the lobby, he saw Cruz driving back and forth like a manic.

"Um Cruz? What are you doing?" he asked.

"Mr. McQueen!" Cruz screamed as she quickly reversed into a corner of the room.

Lightning was dumbfounded. He just stood there in silence, trying to make sense of Cruz's weird behavior.

"So um, how does it feel to win your second Piston Cup?" Lightning asked as he snapped back into reality.

"It feels great! Really great!" Cruz said with an awkward laugh. She backed up further into the corner, attempting to hide the dent.

"Why are you in the corner when there's all this space out here?" Lightning asked.

"I love corners," Cruz said with a crooked smile.

"You love corners," he said in a stern tone.

"Yeah!"

"But you're so far away."

"I'm not that far away. Your eyes are playing tricks on you Mr. McQueen," Cruz said with a timid giggle.

Lightning rolled his eyes. "Fine, I'll just come closer to you," he said as he drove up to her.

**_Cruz_ **

Her engine was revving as Lightning came closer. "Stop! That's good enough for me. Don't come any closer," she said, stopping Lightning in his tracks.

"Cruz what's going on?" he asked with a confused look on his face.

"Nothing's going on Mr. McQueen. You were a little too close that's all."

"What are you hiding Cruz?" Lightning asked as he drove closer to her.

_Oh no! He's on to me!_

"What? I'm not hiding anything! What makes you think that I'm hiding something?" she said with another nervous laugh.

"Well, you reversed into the corner, you don't want me within five feet of you, and you are acting very strange."

"I'm not acting strange. You're the one acting strange, asking all these questions Mr. McQueen. Didn't you want to tell me something?" Cruz said, trying to change the subject.

Lightning took a deep breath. "Um, yes. I wanted to tell you how proud I am of you," he said with a warm smile.

"Really?" Cruz said as she bit her lip.

"Yes. I'm happy now, but during the race, you scared me when you hit that wall. I was going crazy in the pits," he said with a laugh.

Cruz laughed too. "I can imagine."

"I'll admit I did panic, but when you came out of that smoke without a scratch on you, I was extremely happy! I mean, that was just incredible!"

"Yeah, very incredible," Cruz said as she looked down at the floor.

Cruz saw the pride that was radiating off of her mentor's face. She couldn't tell him about the dent now, it would just ruin the mood.

"Well, we'd better head back to Mack. It seems like everyone is leaving," Lightning said as he turned to leave the room.

"Wait! Can I go first?" Cruz asked.  _I just can't let him see this dent!_

"Um, sure," Lightning said as he moved aside to let Cruz pass through the automatic doors.

Cruz slowly drove out from the corner. When she reached over to Lightning's side of the room, she turned around quickly and started to reverse. She turned around so fast that she whipped past Lightning. He was even more confused at the sight of Cruz trying to make her way to the automatic doors.

"Why are you reversing?" he asked.

"It's the new trend! Everyone is doing it! Get with the times old man," Cruz said as she continued to reverse to the door.

Lightning just rolled his eyes and watched as Cruz was backing up to the door post, almost knocking over a potted plant.

"Hey watch out for the-"

Lightning's warning didn't come out fast enough. Cruz knocked the plant over and broke the pot that it was in. The plant and all the dirt covered the white, tile floor.

"Oh man!" Cruz groaned as she saw the mess on the floor.

"New trend huh?" Lightning said in a sarcastic tone.

"Well as you can see, I'm not very good at it," she said with a crooked smile.

"Here, let me help you," Lightning said as he drove over to the mess.

"No I got it! Just stay where you are and don't move!" Cruz yelled as she tried to clean up the mess and hide the dent simultaneously.

While she was trying to hide the dent by sweeping the dirt away from her left side, she made an even bigger mess than when she started.

"Cruz you need help," Lightning said as he watched her struggle.

"I'm fine Mr. McQueen. I can handle it," she said as she swept more dirt across the floor. Cruz grunted in frustration and turned all the way around to properly clean up the mess. Unfortunately, she forgot that Lightning was still there.

_**Lightning** _

His eyes widened when he saw the dent. He stayed silent for a few minutes, trying to wrap his mind around what he just saw. The image of scratched paint, and a chipped tail light made him stare in shock.

"Is-is that a...dent?" he stammered.

Cruz also froze before turning around to face Lightning. She turned slowly, revealing a very ashamed look on her face.

"Uh, yeah. It's a dent," she said with a sigh.

Lightning just stared. They both stayed silent. The eerie tension in the atmosphere made things worse.

"You hit that wall harder than I thought," Lightning said in a low tone.

"Well, it wasn't that bad. I didn't even feel it at first," Cruz said as she moved her tires around in the dirt on the floor.

Lightning immediately snapped out of his daze. He rushed over to Cruz and drove in a circle around her, checking for additional injuries.

"Oh my gosh! Are you hurt?!" he said as he frantically searched her multiple times. He made her stretch out all four tires as he inspected every inch of her body.

"Mr. McQueen I'm fine!" Cruz said.

"Are you sure?" he asked as he drove back to his original spot.

"Yes I'm positive."

"Okay, good," he said as he continued to stare. He was trying so hard not to blow up at her.

_Just breathe Lightning. Just breathe._ As much as he tried to play it cool, the image of that dent kept coming up in his mind. He just couldn't take it.

"Wow! That's it? For a minute there, I thought you were going to-"

"Do you see what happens when you don't listen to me?!" Lightning yelled.

"Oh, never mind," Cruz groaned.

"I told you! I told you not to take that opening and you didn't listen to me!"

"Mr. McQueen I-"

"I told you from the very beginning that all you had to do was listen! Why didn't you just listen?!"

"You were complimenting me earlier. Why don't we just go back to that?" Cruz asked in a timid tone.

"Not after I saw that dent!" Lightning yelled.

"Mr. McQueen, hear me out. I just wanted to show you that I can handle things on my own."

"And how did that work out for you?!"

_**Cruz** _

Her heart broke like the potted plant on the floor. She tried to answer that question, but no words dared to come out of her mouth. Her lips quivered as she tried to speak.

"You-you were just under so much pressure Mr. McQueen. I just wanted to, you know, relieve you from some of it."

"Cruz this isn't about me! It was never about me! This is about you and your safety! I couldn't live with myself if I allowed something to happen to you on that track! You could've  _crashed_!"

Her eyes widened with sympathy. That was it. In that moment, she didn't see her mentor as being unreasonable. She didn't even see him as a mentor at all. She saw Lightning for what he really was: a concerned father who wanted his daughter to be safe. She knew that he didn't want history to repeat itself. She couldn't hold it back anymore. They really needed to talk about this. She could tell that this was tearing him apart.

"Mr. McQueen, is that what you're afraid of?" Cruz asked, hoping to ease them into the conversation.

Just as Lightning started to answer, Sally came rushing into the building.

"What's going on in here? I could hear you guys from outside! I was waiting to leave once you guys left but Mack told me that you both were still in here. What happened?" she said, looking around at the mess.

"Um, we-"

"We were just leaving," Lightning said, interrupting Cruz. "I'll meet you outside Cruz," he said as he drove out of the building.

Both Sally and Cruz watched Lightning leave. Sally looked at Cruz with great concern.

"What happened?" Sally asked.

"This happened," Cruz said as she moved to show Sally the dent.

"Oh!" Sally exclaimed as she winced at the nasty dent.

"Yeah," Cruz said as she looked down in shame.

"Let me guess, you tried to hide it?"

"Uh huh."

"And he saw it?"

"Yup."

"And he chewed you out for it?"

"Oh yeah!"

"And what about the potted plant?"

"Well, I broke that by accident. I was trying to reverse out of here without him seeing the dent," Cruz said with a crooked smile.

"Cruz, Lightning means well. Although he yells at you, he really means it from a place of love. Sometimes I get caught in the middle of his outbursts."

"Really?"

"Yes ma'am. I don't usually let him get away with it, but he's blown up at me a couple of times. Then he would apologize and things would go back to normal," Sally said with a smile.

"I didn't mean to make him mad. I just wanted to ease his stress," Cruz said with a sigh.

"If you want to make his job easier, why don't you try to be more careful? And make sure you listen to him at all times. He was really freaking out when you hit that wall."

"Yeah he told me about that."

"No Cruz, you don't understand, Lightning got off of his podium and was ready to get out there on the track!"

"What?" Cruz couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Listen, give him some time to cool off and then you guys can talk it out. You have a long ride ahead of you so make every minute count."

"Will do Ms. Sally," Cruz said with a smile.

"And the next time he yells at you like that, come see me," Sally said with a wink as she and Cruz drove out of the building.

Cruz made her way to the trailer where Lightning was waiting outside with the ramp down. Cruz looked at Sally, who gave her a nod of encouragement. Cruz smiled at Sally as she drove slowly and stopped in front of Ligthning. She gave him a nervous look. His face remained stern while he stared at her.

"After you," he said, pointing his tire to the open trailer.

Cruz reversed up the ramp while Lightning followed behind. Luigi and Guido were already in the trailer when Mack pulled off to go home. Cruz did as Sally said and gave Lightning some time to cool off. He didn't seem as angry as he was before, but she didn't want to chance things. He turned on the plasma TV and was flipping through the channels. Lightning's silence was grating on her.  _Is he still mad at me? Well, there's only one way to find out._

"Um, Mr. McQueen are you still mad at me?" Cruz asked, as she bit her lip.

Lightning was still looking at the TV screen. A few minutes later, he turned the TV off and looked Cruz straight in the eye.

"No. I was never mad at you Cruz. I was mad about what you did."

"I know and I'm very sorry about that. You just wanted to protect me and I should've respected that."

"It's okay. I'm sorry for yelling at you like that. That's something I'm trying to work on," he said with a small chuckle.

"You know, I appreciate you looking out for me like that."

"Of course! I want to make sure that you're safe," he said with a warm smile.

"Look Mr. McQueen if you're worried about me crashing and stuff, I just-"

Lightning held out his tire as a way of cutting her off. "Cruz, let me just say this: there is a big difference between witnessing a crash and experiencing one for yourself. When I was a rookie, I used to see a lot of accidents while racing. I used to count my lucky stars that I didn't have to experience something like that. Then one day, I experienced it for myself. Look Cruz, I know what it feels like to not only suffer the physical damages, but to go through the emotional challenges as well. Let me tell you, I  _never_ want you to experience something like that. As long as I'm around, I will make sure that you never have to."

Cruz's eyes almost welled up with tears. She could still hear the pain in Lightning's voice when he spoke about his crash.

"It must've been very hard for you," she said.

"Yeah it was," Lightning said as he looked away from Cruz.

"It's alright Mr. McQueen. You got through it and you came out stronger than ever!" Cruz said with a big smile.

Her smile made Lightning laugh. "I sure did, thanks to you."

"Me?" Cruz asked with a confused look on her face.

"You were my maestro of motivation remember? Plus you beat Storm and saved my career!"

"Oh stop Mr. McQueen. We did that together. We really do make a great team huh dad?"

"I couldn't agree more my banana babe," Lightning said with a wink.

They both laughed out loud as if they didn't have a care in the world. They knew that no matter what life threw at them, they would always love each other like father and daughter should.


	11. The Dilemma (Part 1)

**The Dilemma (Part 1)**

_**Jackson** _

"I cannot believe this!" Jackson yelled as he came storming into the IGNTR building. He knocked over every tire rack, box, and gas pump that got in his way. He was truly fuming with rage. His crew chief, Ray Reverham came racing into the room when he heard the commotion.

"Storm you have to take it easy. You're going to wreck the place," he said, attempting to calm him down.

"I can't believe that little yellow ball of mutiny won again!" he yelled as he knocked over another tire rack, causing a mountain of tires to cascade onto the floor.

"Storm you have to relax. You'll get her next time," Ray said in a soft tone.

"You say that after every race and it never happens!" Jackson yelled. "It's no use! No matter how hard I try, that pathetic costume girl always steals my victory. I see her crossing the finish line in my sleep! Her putrid laugh echoes in my dreams! I  _hate_ that stupid laugh!"

"Maybe you need to try a new method," Ray said as he drove closer to Jackson.

"A new method? I've tried every method in the book Gus! What else can I possibly do?" Jackson said as he banged an empty box with his tire.

"Maybe you can try to be nice to her?" Ray said with a sheepish smile.

Jackson paused for a moment and began to laugh at his crew chief's suggestion.

"Wrong answer Gus! Please try again," he said as he continued to laugh uncontrollably.

"No, no, hear me out. Why don't you try to get her to let her guard down? She's gotta have a secret to her success."

"What are you suggesting?" Jackson asked as he cocked a brow at Ray.

"Look, all I'm saying is that you have to be nicer to her. I've been getting a lot of complaints from Tex Dinoco and McQueen about you being rough with Ramirez. Last week you tried to run her off the track!"

"So what? She deserved that and more," Jackson said with a menacing grin.

"Storm, I can't afford to receive another complaint from them. You know that could get you suspended right?" Ray said, giving Jackson a concerned look.

"Get to the point Gus. What do you want me to do about that costume girl?"

Ray sighed. He pitied Jackson's cold response to the world around him. No matter how many times he tried to talk some sense into the young racer, Jackson just wouldn't heed his advice. It's a shame really, since Ray is the only one who actually cared about his wellbeing (besides Gale of course).

"Um hello, earth to Gus! What do you want me to do?" Jackson asked as he waved his tire in front of Ray's eyes.

Ray snapped out of his trance and took a deep breath. "I want you to take this seriously Jackson. You really need to start easing up on all the roughhousing on the track-"

"You said that already. Just get to the point. I don't have time to listen to you beat around the bush," Jackson said, interrupting Ray.

"Can you let me finish? As I was trying to say-"

"Could you lose the attitude? It's not flattering," Jackson said as he interrupted Ray for the second time.

Ray sighed. "Alright, as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, I think you should take her out and get to know her better," he said with a slanted smile.

Jackson was dumbfounded. He stared at Ray with a blank expression as he tried to think of a response to that suggestion.

"You've officially lost it Gus," Jackson said as he rolled his eyes.

"Again, you're not hearing me out. You don't have to  _really_ date her. All you have to do is pretend to like her and the rest would fall into play," Ray said with a cunning grin.

"Let me get this straight. You want me to flirt with this girl until she tells me the secret to her winning streak?"

"Yup! That's exactly what I need you to do. Just gain her trust and then rip the rug right from under her when you get the information that you need. You woo the girl, you get the secret, and I don't get anymore complaints. It's a win-win for the both of us."

Jackson folded his lips as he thought about this plan. "Hmmm. I like it Gus but there's one problem: why would she trust me? I mean, look at how I've treated her since she started racing. I ran her into a wall in Florida and I've tried to do worse things to her since then. Why would she want to go out with me? I bet she wouldn't even give me a second thought," Jackson said as he looked down at the ground.

Ray saw the change in Jackson's demeanor. He marvelled as he saw his cocky, self-centered client shrink into an insecure, hopeless mess. Was Jackson really concerned about Cruz's feelings toward him? Why would that even matter?

"Look, Ramirez seems like a naive girl. She comes off as the type of person who would trust anyone who shows her some kindness. If you can convince her that you're a changed man, I'm telling you she'll fall for you in a heartbeat."

"That's a lot of work. Why can't we just bribe a reporter so they could ask her what the secret to her success is?" Jackson groaned.

"I doubt that she'll reveal that information on camera. Besides, we don't want all of the other racers to know her secret. We want her to reveal that information to you and only you. She'll be able to do that once you gain her trust."

"I don't know about this."

"Come on Storm, you want to win don't you?"

"Of course I do. What kind of stupid question is that?" Jackson asked in an aggravated tone.

"Alright then. Let's practice your flirting skills," Ray said as he winked at Jackson.

"This is not going to end well," Jackson said with a groan.

_**Cruz** _

It was a tranquil evening in Radiator Springs. The town was stirring as the townies were doing their daily routines. Lightning and Cruz were training at Willie's Butte, as was the custom before another racing event. Cruz successfully completed her fourth lap around the old dirt track. She came into her final turn with ease as she made her way to the finish line. She crossed it with full speed, flashing her mentor with a feverish grin. Lightning, Luigi, Sheriff, and Guido were watching her from the top of the canyon, while Sheriff tracked her speed on the speed radar.

"How'd I do Mr. McQueen?" Cruz asked as she tried to catch her breath.

"Lookin' good out there kiddo! Your speed was 213 miles per hour. Not bad," Lightning said with a bright smile as he drove down to meet Cruz on the track.

"Not bad? I think you meant to say that I did an amazing job! That's my top speed for this week. I think I'm ready to race on this track with my eyes shut," Cruz beamed as she made doughnuts in the dirt.

Lightning coughed from all the dust that Cruz was making.

"Sorry Mr. McQueen. I just got a little excited," she said with a nervous smile.

"You think?" he said as he continued to cough.

Cruz looked off into the horizon to behold the breathtaking sunset. She looked around at the old desert track, examining every twist and turn.

"Mr. McQueen, has anyone ever tried to go around the other way?" she asked as she continued to stare at the track.

"Uh, no. We usually start behind the left side of the starting line," he said, giving Cruz a confused look.

"Well have you ever tried starting on the right side of the starting line?"

"No I haven't. It's never been done before."

"I guess today's the day for me to change that!" Cruz said as she beamed with pride.

"Are you sure you want to try that?" Lightning asked with a concerned tone.

"Absolutely! Besides, I love a challenge," she said with a smile as she drove behind the starting line (on the right side).

"Alright. Just be careful," Lightning said as he went back to the top of the canyon with the others.

"I will!" she called out to Lightning.

_Come on Cruz, you can do this!_

_**Lightning** _

He was unsettled by the idea. He knew that he couldn't say anything to convince her otherwise, but he still wanted to do everything in his power to prevent her from going through with her challenge. His mind flashed back to the first time Cruz fell into the cactus field. She had an anxiety attack the last time that happened and he didn't want the situation to reoccur.

"Luigi, come on down and do your thing," she said as Luigi came down the canyon wall and waved his green flag.

_This is a bad idea._

"On your mark, get set, GO!" Luigi cheered as Cruz zipped past him.

Lightning watched with anticipation as Cruz was making her way into the first turn. It was the infamous turn that he failed to master after multiple attempts. He saw as Cruz started to drift into the turn. She came in too sharp, causing her rear end to swerve outside of the turn. She was spinning out of control, almost flying into the cactus field nearby. Lightning's engine raced as he rushed down the canyon wall to ensure that she was alright. Fortunately, Cruz was able to stop just before she landed in the patch of cacti.

"Cruz are you okay?" Lightning called out to her while he frantically searched the area.

"I'm fine Mr. McQueen. I just went a little too fast that's all," Cruz said, attempting to catch her breath. "That was close huh?" she said with a crooked smile.

"You're not used to driving in this direction so don't be too upset if you don't get it right the first time. It's getting dark. We should all head back to town. You can probably try again tomorrow," Lightning said as he tried to get Cruz to follow him and the others.

"Alright let's go," Cruz said as she followed behind.

_**Cruz** _

Later that night while everyone in town was asleep, Cruz made her way back to Willie's Butte to practice that turn. She made multiple attempts, but they all ended with her swerving off the track and nearly landing in the cactus field. She spent hours on the track trying to perfect that turn. She stayed on the track until the sun rose in the sky.

_Is it morning already? Did I really spend the entire night on this track? I need to make it back to town before Mr. McQueen finds out about this._

Getting back to town was easier said than done. Cruz was completely exhausted. She was barely able to drive up the canyon. She slowly made her way into the town with her eyes barely being able to stay open. Her tires were drooping into the pavement while the sound of her engine faded into the air. She came to an abrupt stop before finally dozing off.

"Hey dude this is a no-sleeping zone! Find a garage man!" Fillmore yelled as he saw Cruz resting in front of his shop.

"Huh? Oh hi Fillmore," Cruz said with a long yawn.

"You look exhausted man. You need some sleep. Sleep is good for the soul," he said with calm smile.

"Oh I'm learning that lesson right now," Cruz said as she yawned again.

"You look like you could use some of my organic fuel. I'm working on making a new tonic that will bring up your RPMs and help your engine run more smoothly."

"Do you have anything that will give me a kick, you know something that will help to wake me up?" Cruz asked as she tried to keep her eyes open.

Fillmore's eyes widened. "You sure you can handle what I have? I'm telling you man it will give you more than just a kick," he said with a nervous grin.

"I'll take whatever you have. Make it two cans please," she said as she raced into his tent.

"Whoa!" Fillmore exclaimed as he followed Cruz into the tent.

_**Lightning** _

"Where is she? She should've been here by now," Lightning said to Sheriff as they all waited for Cruz to arrive for training.

"There she is," Sheriff said as Cruz came rushing to the track.

"Sorry I'm late. I'm here now so let's go!" Cruz squealed as she raced over to the starting line.

Lightning and Sheriff just stared at each other, wondering where Cruz was getting this sudden boost of energy. Luigi was scared to stand in front of Cruz due to her hyperactivity. She kept bouncing around on her tires and smiling hard.

"Uh, on your mark, get set…"

Cruz zipped past the starting line before Luigi got the chance to say "go." She raced around the track in hyperspeed. She was going so fast that she wasn't able to stop herself. Suddenly, she was in a continuous cycle of speeding around Willie's Butte. Lightning's eyes widened with shock at the sight of Cruz zipping around the track like a mad bat out of hillbilly hell.

"How long is she going to keep this up? At this rate she'll break the speed radar!" Sheriff exclaimed.

As if on cue, the speed radar kept flashing with random numbers. The numbers were coming up in rapid succession until there was a large red X on the screen. Lightning immediately drove up to the edge of the canyon wall.

"Cruz hit the brakes!" he yelled as his engine raced.

"I can't! The brakes don't have enough force to stop me at this speed," Cruz answered as she tried to speak through the gust of wind that was hitting her face.

After a few minutes, Cruz began to slow down and stop right in front of the starting line. Lightning breathed a sigh of relief as he made his way over to Cruz. All she could do was give him a nervous grin. He wasn't amused. He glared in silence at his remorseful mentee.

"Cruz, what is the meaning of all of this?" he asked in a stern tone.

_**Cruz** _

She knew that there was no easy way out of this situation. She took a deep breath and decided to tell Lightning the "truth."

"Well I went to Fillmore's shop this morning and I asked him to give me some fuel to help my engine run better and he gave me this new fuel that he's been working on," she said with a skewed smile.

Lightning raised a brow at her. "Why would you need fuel from Fillmore?" he asked with a bewildered look on his face.

"I just wanted to go faster that's all," she said in a nervous tone.

Lightning narrowed his eyes at her. His grim expression and icy stare sent chills to her lug nuts.

_He's not buying it. Here comes the fireworks, he's going to blow!_

Cruz closed her eyes to brace herself for Lightning's explosive tirade. She was just waiting for him to unleash his fury on her.

Lightning saw Cruz's reaction. He certainly didn't want to confirm her fear of being harshly scolded. While he was furious with her, he tried his best to refrain from yelling at her. All he could do was sigh.

"Next time, make sure that the fuel is tested before you decide to fill your tank with it. Just try to be more careful," he said in the softest tone that he could muster up at the time.

Cruz's eyes shot open as she stared at Lightning in shock.

"What?" he asked as he noticed Cruz's awestruck expression.

"You're not yelling at me," she said, still amazed at the words that were coming out of her mouth.

"I'm trying something new. I don't want to yell at you but if you insist-"

"No, please don't! I think I like this new you," she said with a smile.

"Yeah well don't think I'm letting you off the hook that easily. Your little stunt caused the speed radar to break so I guess our training session is cancelled for today," Lightning said with a frown.

"Oh sorry," she said with a sheepish smile.

"No need to apologize. The most important thing is that you're safe and that's all that matters," Lightning said as he and the others turned to leave the track. "You coming?" he asked as he saw that Cruz wasn't following behind.

"I think I'm going to stay out here for a while," she said as she went back to the starting line.

"Don't stay out too late," Lightning said as he turned to leave with the others.

Cruz smiled to herself as she revved her engine and took a lap around the track.

_**Jackson** _

"This is ridiculous," Jackson groaned as he and Ray were face to face at a local restaurant.

Business was slow in the small eatery. It was a quiet place with a scanty population of customers. Jackson and Ray were seated near the back window. They were just finishing their meal while Ray made a last minute attempt to get in some more practice dates with Jackson.

"Alright Jackson, I need you to pretend that I'm Ramirez," Ray said as he batted his eyes.

Jackson rolled his eyes. "No not this again," he said with a frown.

"Come on, all you have to do is use your imagination."

"Well unless you can paint yourself yellow and give me an annoying laugh, I can't picture you as costume girl. You're not even a girl," Jackson said in an aggravated tone.

"Look, I need you to stop complaining and start flirting. The race is in a few days and you have to make your move on Ramirez or your career will be history. Now try and dazzle me with your boyish charm," Ray said with a wink.

Jackson winced. "You've been watching too many rom-coms."

"I'm still waiting to be dazzled Storm," Ray said in a stern tone.

"Fine. Hey costume girl, wanna hang out soon? If you refuse it's your loss. How was that?" Jackson said in a sarcastic tone.

Ray shook his hood. "That is no way to charm a lady!"

"Well you're not a lady. I can't pretend that you are a girl with that deep voice of yours."

"Okay let me try again. Hey Jackson, that was a nice race today," Ray said in a high-pitched voice.

Jackson cringed at Ray's attempt at a feminine voice. "I think my lunch is coming back to me," he said as he gagged.

"You know what? You want a lady's touch, then why don't we get a lady's perspective on this?" Ray said as he began to drive away from the table.

"Where are you going?" Jackson asked.

"Come on, let's go find Gale," Ray said as he and Jackson made their way outside the restaurant to the parking lot where Gale was parked.

"You boys had a good time?" she called out to them as they approached her.

"It was fine until Gus started acting like a-"

"Gale, I need your help with something," Ray said, interrupting Jackson.

"What kind of help?" she asked with slight hesitation.

"I need you to pretend to be this girl that Jackson wants to ask on a date. He won't practice on me so I thought he might need some help from a lady. Do you mind helping him out?" Ray asked as he glared at Jackson.

"No I don't mind at all. I think it's awfully sweet of Jackie-boy to ask a girl out on a date. Who is this lucky girl anyway?"

"Her name is-"

"That's not important. Gale, you don't have to get roped into this. Gus is just being dramatic. I don't need any help. I can do this on my own," Jackson said with a huff.

"Well, can I at least get an idea of how you would ask a girl out on a date?" Gale asked as she chuckled to herself.

"I have to warn you, he's terrible at it," Ray whispered to Gale.

"I can hear you Gus," Jackson said as she glared at Ray. "Fine I'll show you," he said as he took a deep breath.

Jackson flashed a bright smile at Gale. He drove over in her direction with flare as he winked at her.

"Hey baby, would you like to go out sometime? If you say yes I promise it would be a night that you'll never forget. If you refuse, then it's your loss Toot's," he said as he flashed another smile.

"That's it?" Gale asked, giving Jackson an unimpressed look.

"What do you mean? That was my best material!" Jackson whined.

"Honey, if that was your best material then it needs a lot more work. It seems to me that you're a bit too snarky in your tone. If you want to win a woman's heart, you have to be gentle and kind."

"No, no, no Gale. Ladies want a guy who can take charge and isn't afraid to put his tire down and show them who's boss," Ray said with a smile.

"I don't know what ladies you've been talking to Ray but take it from a lady herself, genuine love is always the best way to go," Gale said with a warm smile.

"But don't be too sappy Storm. Remember, ladies love a man with confidence," Ray argued.

"Did you not hear a word I just said? Ladies love a compassionate and kind person. Not some jerk who's all muscle and no heart," Gale said as she rolled her eyes.

"What's there to love if there's no muscle involved?" Ray said as he attempted to refute her claim.

"Would you two get a room or something? Look, I have a plan for costume girl. When it gets in motion, she wouldn't even know what hit her," Jackson said with a devious grin.


	12. The Dilemma (Part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New Chapter for the New Year! I hope you guys enjoy it, also the italics are the character's thoughts and the bolded and the italic text indicates a flashback.

**The Dilemma (Part 2)**

 

**_Lightning_ **

 

The sun glistened in the desert sky as the townies enjoyed their morning in Radiator Springs. While everyone gathered at Flo’s to savor their quarts of oil, Cruz was nowhere to be found. She was parked behind the starting line at Willy’s Butte, losing herself in a deep slumber. Her snoring echoed throughout the canyon while Lightning, Sheriff, Luigi, and Guido made their way to the track. They could hear Cruz’s snores from a mile away. Lightning stopped abruptly, causing the others to pile up behind him. 

 

“Did you guys hear that?” he asked, referring to the loud snoring. 

 

“Yeah, it sounds like someone’s got a busted carburetor or somethin’,” Sheriff said as he grimaced at the sound. 

 

“It sounds like snoring to me. Loud snoring at that,” Lightning said as he drove closer to the edge of the canyon wall. 

 

Sure enough, the gang came across a snoring Cruz at the starting line of the track. Lightning’s eyes widened as he drove over to meet his drowsy mentee. He stared at her for a few seconds before gently nudging her fender with his tire. 

 

“Hey Cruz, it’s time to wake up,” Lightning said in a sing-song tone as he continued to nudge her fender. 

 

“Are you serious?! She’s never gonna wake up with you cuddlin’ her like that,” Sheriff said as his mustache twitched. “Here, let me try,” he said as he blew his horn. 

 

The piercing sound of Sheriff’s horn was enough to make the others jump in fear while Cruz woke up from her siesta. 

 

“Ahh! What’s going on?!” Cruz screamed as she frantically looked around at the group of cars before her. 

 

“See?” Sheriff said with a wink. 

 

“Cruz, are you okay?” Lightning asked in a gentle tone. 

 

**_Cruz_ **

 

She blinked slowly as she scanned the faces that were in front of her. Sheriff had the same stone cold, no-nonsense facial expression as always. Luigi and Guido kept staring at each other with confusion while Lightning stared at her with his gentle, blue eyes. She could see that his demeanor was overwhelmed with worry. With that, she stood firmly on her wheels attempting to mask her fatigue. 

 

“I’m fine, Mr. McQueen. You guys were taking forever to get here so I decided to get some shut-eye,” she said with a skittish smile. 

 

Lightning eyed her suspiciously. He could see the weariness in her eyes. The treads on her tires were worn out, the dust from the track settled in her fenders, and the sound of her engine was fading out. 

 

“Why don’t you take the day off and get some rest?” he offered. 

 

“What? No! I want to do some training. The race is in two days, Mr. McQueen. I can’t afford to take a day off,” she said as she begged for Lightning to give her another chance. 

 

Lightning sighed. “Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked. 

 

“Yes Mr. McQueen, I’m fine. If it makes you feel better, why don’t you take a lap with me?” 

 

Lightning gave her a modest smile. “Alright, let’s do this,” he said as they both lined up behind the starting point. 

 

Luigi stood in front of them, waving his green flag with glee. Lightning’s engine roared with the luscious sound of American V8 horsepower. Cruz’s engine stammered as the sound dissolved into the air. 

 

“On your mark...get set… uno for the money, due for the show, tre to get ready and quattro to… GO!” Luigi cheered.  

 

Lightning took off from the starting line, leaving Cruz in the dust. She slowly made her way over the line and dozed off in the middle of the track. She started snoring loudly as her drowsiness took over. 

 

**_Lightning_ **

 

He was far ahead of Cruz. He entered into every turn with ease (given his years of experience on the track). He glanced at his left side to see if Cruz was driving alongside him. Once he realized that Cruz wasn’t even close to his bumper, he hit the brakes and came to a full stop on the other end of the track. He surveyed the area, but there was no sign of Cruz. He eventually heard her snores, rolled his eyes, and made his way back to the starting line. He drove up next to Cruz and started to stare at her. 

 

Sheriff drove over to the area. “Do you need me to-”

 

“Nope, I got it,” Lightning said as he revved his engine. 

 

“Ahh!” Cruz screamed as she woke up from her slumber. 

 

“Cruz, what happened back there? I thought we were doing this lap together,” he said in a flustered tone. 

 

“Wait, didn’t I cross the starting line?” Cruz asked with a yawn. 

 

“Yeah you crossed the line but you didn’t go any further than that,” Lightning explained matter-of-factly. 

 

“Oh sorry, Mr. McQueen. Can we try again?” she asked as she gave another long yawn. 

 

_ Is she serious? That’s it! Something has to be done about this.  _

 

Suddenly, Lightning’s face lit up as if he was having an epiphany. “You know, I think you could use some new tires,” he said with a grin. 

 

Cruz stretched out her axles to examine each of her front tires. She had to admit that they did look very tattered. She could see all the dust and grime that was stuck between her treads. 

 

“I guess you’re right,” she sighed in defeat. 

 

“Okay then, meet me at Luigi’s and we’ll get you some tires. This one’s on me,” Lightning said with a wink as he and the others drove back to the town. 

 

**_Cruz_ **

 

After a few minutes of struggling to get up the canyon wall and into the town, Cruz finally made it to Luigi’s tire shop (or casa della tires). Lightning, Luigi, and Guido were in the shop waiting for her to arrive. 

 

“Ay signorina, what-a took you so long?” Luigi asked as he gave Cruz a worried look. 

 

“Uh, I was coming, I just-” a loud, lengthy yawn interrupted her explanation. 

 

The trio stared at her in bewilderment. They could see that Cruz was desperately trying to battle her fatigue. Her eyes were blinking rapidly as she fought to stay awake. 

 

“Uh Cruz, why don’t you come over here so you can get your tires,” Lightning said as he helped Cruz get to the tire changing area. 

 

When she approached the tire changing platform, Luigi pressed the button which brought her up from the floor. Guido quickly removed all four of her tires. She patiently waited for him to put on her new set of tires, but everyone remained stationary. 

 

“Uh, Mr. McQueen, do I get to choose my new tires or are you going to choose them for me?” Cruz asked as she cocked a brow at the trio. 

 

Lightning, Luigi, and Guido just stared at each other in silence. 

 

_ What's going on here? _

 

“No, Cruz,” Lightning finally said. 

 

Cruz gave him a confused look. “Um, do you mean ‘no’ as in you’re not choosing my tires or-”

 

“Cruz, you’re not getting any tires. I just said that to get you in here,” he said in a tender tone. 

 

“What?”

 

“Cruz, you need to get some rest. You're going burn yourself out if you don't take it easy.” 

 

Cruz's eyes widened. “So you're going to leave me here?” she asked as she finally realized what was going on. 

 

“Just until you get some sleep,” Lightning said with a meager smile. 

 

“I am well-rested!” Cruz protested as she yawned again. 

 

Lightning narrowed his eyes at her. “I mean it Cruz, you need to go to sleep,” he said in a stern tone. 

 

“Mr. McQueen, can I please have my tires back? I promise I'll go to sleep after I finish training.”

 

Lightning chuckled quietly to himself. “Cruz, you fell asleep _during_ the training session.”

 

“But the race is in two days and-”

 

“Up, bup, bup! I don't want to hear anything about the race. Right now, I need you to clear your mind and get some sleep.”

 

“But-”

 

“Bye Cruz, I'll be back in a few,” Lightning said with a wink as he turned to leave the shop. 

 

Cruz's mouth flew open when she heard his snarky remark. “Not funny, Mr. McQueen!” she yelled as Lightning continued to laugh. 

 

Luigi and Guido followed behind Lightning. 

 

“Hey! Where are you guys going? Can you help me get down from here?” Cruz begged. 

 

“ Non si puo 'fare (No can do),” Guido said as he crossed his forks. 

 

“Sorry,  signorina, boss’ orders,” Luigi said with a frown. 

 

“Hey, I’m your boss too!” Cruz whined. 

 

“But he was the boss first, bye bye,” Luigi said as he and Guido left the shop. 

 

Cruz sighed in defeat. She knew that there was no way out of this situation. The drowsiness weighed heavily on her body. Her eyes began to close as she kept blinking to stay awake. 

 

_ Come on, Cruz. You have to fight this. Just try to stay awake.  _

 

Her efforts were futile. No matter how hard she tried to fight it, the fatigue won the battle. She finally surrendered and fell into a deep sleep. 

 

**A few hours later…**

 

Cruz opened her eyes slowly. She was back in her cone with her tires on. The garage door was open, letting in a cool, summer breeze. Cruz closed her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief once she felt the air flow over her hood. 

 

“Oh, you’re awake,” a familiar voice said. 

 

Cruz’s eyes shot open as she saw her mentor drive up to the entrance of her cone. 

 

“Hi, Mr. McQueen,” she whispered. 

 

“How do you feel now?” 

 

“Better, much better,” she said with a weak smile.

 

“I hope you don’t mind, I kept the door open so that I could check on you,” Lightning explained as he saw Cruz exit through the open garage door. 

 

“That’s fine, Mr. McQueen. Thanks for the nap,” she said, giving him a soft chuckle. 

 

“You’re welcome,” he said with a warm smile. 

 

**_Lightning_ **

 

He could see that Cruz had a lot on her mind. She was in a daze. Although she just awoke from her slumber, he knew that she wanted to tell him something. 

 

“What are you thinking about?” he asked, referring to her blank expression. 

 

“Huh? Oh, nothing,” she said with a nervous smile. 

 

“Come on, talk to me. Tell me what’s on your mind.”

 

Cruz sighed. “Remember that challenge I gave myself a few days ago, you know, the one where I had to drive around Willy’s Butte in the opposite direction?”

 

“Yeah,” Lightning said as he tried to follow along. 

 

“Well, I was up for the past few nights, working on that stupid turn,” Cruz said as she struggled to make eye contact with her mentor.

 

Lightning smiled. “I figured.” 

 

“So, you knew?” 

 

“Cruz, I used to do the same thing when I was training with Doc.”

 

Cruz looked up at him with anticipation. “You did?” 

 

**_“We were training at Willy’s Butte for the Dinoco Light 350 in Motor City. Doc and I were just finishing our twentieth lap, but I wanted to go around a few more times.”_ **

 

“Alright, hot rod, let’s take a little break,” Doc said as he tried to catch his breath. 

 

“Come on, Doc, I think we can do a few more,” Lightning said as he rushed over to the starting line. 

 

“I like your enthusiasm, son, but there’s nothing wrong with taking a break.”

 

“Ah, breaks are for losers. Besides, I need all the practice I can get for that race coming up.”

 

“Son, that race is in a few days-”

 

“I have to practice Doc, or else I’m going to lose!” Lightning yelled.

 

Doc shook his hood. “Whoa there, hot rod. You need to- how do you young kids say it- oh yeah, chill. You need to chill,” he said in a stern tone. 

 

Lightning rolled his eyes. “Chilling is for the dead,” he mumbled to himself. 

 

“I heard that!” Doc snapped. 

 

“Sorry Doc, I just want to do a few more laps,” Lightning said in a soft tone. 

 

“Why are you doing this, hot rod? One little break won’t kill ya’,” Doc said as he drove over to Lightning at the starting line. 

 

Lightning sighed. “I have to win this race. All I want to do is make you proud.”

 

**_“In that moment, Doc realized that I was pushing myself just to gain his approval.”_ **

 

**_Cruz_ **

 

She looked down at the ground, knowing that she was struggling with the same dilemma. 

 

Lightning looked at her with compassion. “Cruz, Doc told me something that day which I should’ve told you a long time ago: you don’t have to prove your worth to me by winning races. I know it’s an exhilarating feeling when you cross the finish line and take home that trophy, but you have to remember that my view of you will never change. No matter how many times you win or lose, I will always be proud of you.”

 

Deep down inside, Cruz knew that Lightning was telling the truth, but her insecurities overwhelmed her. 

 

“But, don’t you get disappointed when I lose? Just look at my number! I have the same number as the Fabulous Hudson Hornet! He holds the record for having the most wins in a single season, and you are the Fabulous Lightning McQueen! You’re the seven-time Piston Cup champion. You guys created a legacy for me to uphold. Sometimes I feel like I just don't measure up,” she said with a frown. 

 

“Cruz, you shouldn't put that much pressure on yourself. I didn't give you Doc's number because I wanted you to continue some legacy, I gave you his number because I saw the potential in you. No one is perfect, Cruz, not even me. Do you know how many times I messed up on that second turn? I've fallen into cactus patches more times than I can count!” 

 

Cruz laughed. 

 

“I didn't win every race and I'm sure Doc had his moments of failure too. Cruz, I'm not asking you to be perfect, all I want is for you to do your best. If your best is second or third place, I want you to celebrate that. You're doing great, kiddo. You need to start giving yourself more credit.” 

 

Cruz pondered her mentor's words. Of course, she knew all of this, but knowing something and believing it are two different things. 

 

“You're right, Mr. McQueen. Maybe I need to be more confident in myself,” she said with a nervous chuckle.

 

“Well, we can work on that,” Lightning said with a warm smile. 

 

“Yeah, I guess we can.” she beamed.

 

“Let's go over to Flo's and get you something to drink, you've earned it.” 

 

“Now, are we  _ really  _ going to get drinks or are you going to play another trick on me?” Cruz asked with a sly smile. 

 

Lightning laughed. “Don't try me, Cruz,” he said as they both burst into laughter. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	13. Sanctuary of Secrets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! I know it's been a while since I updated this story, but I've been busy with school and other things. Since I'm currently on a break, I thought, why not update? So this chapter is similar to the "Lost Soul" one shot that I wrote a while ago. While it may be similar to that story, I've added more to it to make it different. As always, the italics are the character's thoughts. I hope you enjoy!

**Sanctuary of Secrets**

_**Jackson** _

A swarm of cars was gathered at the Motor Speedway of the South to witness another race in the Piston Cup Series. Jackson was pacing back and forth in the IGNTR building, impatiently waiting for his crew chief to arrive.

_Where is he? He should've been here hours ago!_

As if on cue, Ray came rushing into the building, almost crashing head first into Jackson.

"I apologize for the delay. I ran into some traffic on the way in," Ray said as he tried to catch his breath.

Jackson rolled his eyes. "I feel like I've been waiting here for hours! You've gotta do better, Gus," he said with a frown.

"I said I was sorry didn't I?" Ray pleaded.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, quit your whining. Anyway, why did you ask us to meet here so early? The race starts in like 20 minutes."

"I just want to make sure that you understand the plan," Ray said in a stern tone.

"Are you kidding me?! You made me wait here all afternoon to talk about this stupid plan again?!" Jackson yelled.

"Calm down, Jackson. I just want to make sure that we are on the same page. I feel like we haven't covered all our bases if you know what I mean."

"No, I don't know what you mean, Gus."

"Jackson, I need you to think about this for a minute. After all, your reputation is on the line here. Do you think we covered every area in our plan?" Ray asked with an anxious look in his eyes.

Jackson thought hard about their little scheme. As he pondered their plan, he spotted Cruz driving over to her pit box with Lightning following behind her. That's when it hit him.

"The Champ! I completely forgot about the Champ! He's going to put a monkey wrench in this stupid plan!" Jackson exclaimed as he slammed his tire into the floor.

"Don't panic. Maybe we can-"

"There's no way around this, Gus. You know how the Champ feels about me. He'll never let costume girl get within five feet of me. I don't know why we have to do this. Isn't there some other way we can exploit this chick?!" Jackson yelled.

Ray could see the fury raging in Jackson's grey eyes.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down. Why don't we give Ramirez the benefit of the doubt?" Ray asked in a calm tone.

Jackson cocked a brow at Ray. "What do you mean, Gus?"

"Think about it. I'm sure Ramirez is smart enough to keep this thing a secret."

Jackson scoffed. "I doubt that," he said with a frown.

Ray sighed. His patience was wearing thin. "Why do you say that?" he said, giving Jackson a confused look.

"They seem pretty close. They probably tell each other everything," Jackson said with a hint of jealousy in his tone.

Ray chuckled to himself. "How close can they possibly be? They've only known each other for a few months. I doubt that trust can develop in a relationship that quickly. Besides, you never really know anyone 100 percent."

"Well, she seems like she has a big mouth," Jackson said in a disgusted tone.

"Look, if she knows how McQueen feels about you, she wouldn't want to tell him that she's hanging out with you. Trust me, I have a feeling that this is the first time that she ever kept a secret from her mentor," Ray said with a cunning grin.

_**Cruz** _

"It's coming down to the final stretch of this race. Cruz Ramirez has a huge lead with Jackson Storm right on her tail," Bob Cutlass announced.

"They are entering into the final lap and it looks like Cruz has this race in the bag!" Darrell Cartrip exclaimed.

"Alright, Cruz, you have one more lap to go, just stay focused," Lightning said as his voice erupted into Cruz's radio.

"Got it!" she answered as she made her way into turn three with Jackson following close behind.

"Storm's coming up fast. He's looking to move to the inside, don't give him that opening," Lightning warned.

"I see him," Cruz said as she slammed the door on Jackson, causing her to speed into the final turn.

"Cruz is not making it easy on Jackson today," Bob said as he watched Jackson lose his momentum.

"Yessiree! She's definitely taking that win," Darrell said.

"It's Cruz Ramirez for the win!" Bob Cutlass announced as Cruz crossed the finish line.

"Hoo-wee! #51 is on a roll!" Darrell Cartrip cheered.

Cruz ended that race with another win under her hood. The crowds were chanting her name as fireworks burst into the air. After she received her trophy, she was greeted by a mob of paparazzi cars, just anxious to get an exclusive interview with her.

_**Jackson** _

_Enjoy your little victory while it lasts, costume girl. Alright, Jackson, it's now or never. Time to end this reign of terror._

Jackson was fuming to the brim with seething, hot rage. He drove over to the entrance of the Dinoco building without anyone seeing him. He was careful enough to avoid contact with Lightning or anyone who would question his presence. He patiently waited for Cruz to drive over to the entrance of the building. He watched her fight through the swarms of paparazzi as she headed over to the building. It was finally time for him to make his move.

"Hey costume- I mean, Cruz!" Jackson called out to Cruz as he drove close to her.

"Oh! Good evening, Storm," Cruz said with a feeble smile.

"Please, just call me Jackson," he said with a spurious smile.

The two stared at each other, wearing their gawky facial expressions.

"Um, okay. Do you need anything?" she asked in an awkward tone as Jackson continued to stare at her.

"I just wanted to say congratulations on your win today, you earned it," he said as his phony smile continued to spread across his face.

"Wow, uh, thank you!" Cruz said with a nervous laugh.

"So, I'd like to treat you to a little celebratory lunch or maybe dinner?"

"Wait, are you asking me out?" Cruz asked as she gave him a confused look.

"What does it look like?! I mean, yes I am asking you out. Do you accept the invitation?" he offered as he tried to regain his composure.

"Um, sure. Where do you plan on taking me?"

_Oh great! I didn't think ahead this far! Great job, Jackson!_

He paused for a moment to think about his response. "I was thinking that you should pick the place," he said with a cunning grin.

_Nice one, Storm!_

_THE NEXT DAY…_

"Nice going, Storm," he mumbled to himself as he and Gale waited outside Fireball Beach.

"It's so nice out here! You two are going to have such an amazing date," Gale said with a bright smile.

Jackson grimaced at her comment. "It's not a date! Besides, I'm not even interested in her. I just want to know the secret to her winning streak," he said as he ground his teeth.

"The secret? How about hard work and determination? I bet your bottom dollar that if you asked her, she would tell you the same thing."

"Oh please! Hard work? She just showed up! Determination? She couldn't even pass me without doing that stupid stunt of hers! No, I want to know how she did it. I want to know what makes her crack under the pressure. I want to  _crush_  her!" Jackson said as he pounded his tire on the floor of his trailer.

"Hey! Take it easy back there! What did that girl ever do to you?" Gale asked with a frown.

_Really, Gale? Is that even a question?_

"Do I really need to explain that to you? That girl ruined my career and I hate her for it!" Jackson said as he turned up his dubstep music.

Gale sighed as Mack pulled up next to her.

_**Cruz** _

"We're here, Cruz," Mack announced as they reached their final destination.

"I don't know about this, Mack. I mean, it was nice of Jackson to want to take me out, but I can't help but feel like this is a setup," she said.

"Well, there's only one way to find out. Why don't you go and enjoy yourself? Just be careful. I'll be here waiting for you when you get back," Mack said with a smile.

"Oh, alright. Thanks for dropping me off," Cruz said as she pressed the button to open the trailer door.

"No problem!" Mack said as Cruz drove down the ramp.

She breathed in the salty, sea air as she rubbed her tires in the sand. "Ah, it's good to be back," she said to herself as she gazed at the waves hitting the shoreline.

Jackson came out of his trailer once he saw Cruz exit her trailer.

"So, are we going to spend the whole day on the beach?" Jackson asked with a frown as he drove up to Cruz.

He wasn't really a fan of the beach. He hated the water and the feeling of the sand grains in his tires. He especially despised the small crabs that showed up on the shore.

"Nope! We're going to someplace better," Cruz said with a bright smile.

_**Jackson** _

"A Crab Sanctuary?!" Jackson yelled as he read the sign on the building.

"Yup!" Cruz beamed.

"This is by far the most stupid thing I've ever done! We're not going in there, are we?" Jackson said as he glared at Cruz.

Cruz gave him a somber look as she lowered her frame into the pavement. Jackson rolled his eyes once he saw Cruz's grief-stricken expression.

"Fine, let's go. I mean, how bad can it be?"

He spoke too soon. While Cruz enjoyed the crab display, Jackson was ready to hurl. The sanctuary provided a very cushy atmosphere for the crabs. There were thousands of the tiny creatures kept in a massive glass dome. The dome encased the crabs in a mini beach environment, complete with sand, seashells, and a fountain which provided the water in the petite pool. Cruz marveled as she saw the crabs interact with each other. They scampered around the pen, playing with the tiny toys that the crab keepers provided. Jackson wanted to destroy the glass dome. He kept eyeing the nearby exit, hoping for his chance to ditch Cruz. While the idea of escaping felt so gratifying, he couldn't help but notice how elated Cruz was. Her smile was beginning to make his engine melt. Her laugh, (although he's heard it a million times before) sounded like a melodious tune of joy. He didn't know exactly what he was feeling or why he was feeling this way, but it felt different. It felt  _good_. He shook his hood to snap himself out of his trance.

"Can we go now?" he whined as he drove over to Cruz.

"Not yet. I want to remember this moment!" Cruz said as she snapped a picture of her and Jackson in front of the massive crab display with a camera attached to her fender. Jackson clearly wasn't ready for the spontaneity of the moment. A polaroid picture slid out of the camera, showing Cruz with the brightest smile on her face while Jackson grimaced at the flash of light in his eyes.

"This is perfect!" Cruz beamed.

_Jackson, why did you ever agree to do this?!_

"Are you ready to go now?" Cruz asked.

"Yes! Let's get out of here," Jackson said as he sped over to the exit.

After an extensive and rather maladroit drive, they finally got back to Gale and Mack who were watching the sunset together on the beach.

"Aww, would you look at those two? They're so cute together," Cruz swooned.

"Don't get any ideas," Jackson said as he rolled his eyes.

"Thanks for taking me out. I really had fun," Cruz said with a smile.

"Yeah, well don't mention it," Jackson said in an aggressive tone.

"Hey, I noticed that you were a little uncomfortable back there, do you not like crabs?"

Jackson was shocked at her question.

_Why did she care?_

"Um, no. They're not my favorite animals," he said with a sigh.

"But they're cute!" Cruz said, trying to justify her love for the crabs.

"Well not to me," Jackson huffed.

"Well, maybe we can go to one of your favorite places next time," she said in a gentle tone.

Jackson blinked slowly. "Are you saying that you want to go out again?"

"Yeah, sure. I don't mind. Are you free sometime next week?"

"Um, y-yeah. I should be," he stammered.

"Great! I'll see you then! Oh, and I won't make any copies of the photo. I'm just going to keep it hidden in a safe place. That moment will stay between us," Cruz said with a smile as she drove back to Mack.

In that instant, Jackson was conflicted. How could someone that he hated so much show so much kindness toward him? Was she not aware of how much he despised her very existence? Was she really willing to give him a chance? Was she willing to allow this lost soul to have a place in her life? Jackson slowly drove back to Gale, feeling stunned by his previous exchange with Cruz.

"So, how'd your date go? Oops- I mean, your little outing," Gale said with a wink.

"Um, it went better than I expected, not at first anyway," Jackson said as he shuddered from his memory of the crab exhibit.

"That's good to hear. Are you two planning to go out again someday?" Gale probed.

Jackson glared at Gale. "You really don't know when to quit, do you? Yes, she wants to go out again next week," he said as he rolled his eyes.

"That's great!" Gale exclaimed.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just get me out of here please," Jackson said as he reversed into the trailer.

"Yes, sir," Gale said as she pulled off from the parking lot.

_**Cruz** _

She watched as Gale pulled out from the parking lot and drove onto the dark road ahead. She stopped before she got into her trailer, just to reflect on her " little outing" with Jackson. She didn't expect him to agree to another date in the future. In fact, she didn't expect him to show up to this one. What was it about her that made him stick around? Did she even have anything to do with his decision to stay?

"Hey, kid, you okay?" Mack asked as he saw Cruz hesitate to get into the trailer.

"I don't know, Mack. I just can't believe that we actually went out together," Cruz said as she drove up to Mack.

"Did you at least have some fun?"

"Yeah, well I did. We went to the Crab Sanctuary, but I could tell that Jackson was suffering on the inside," Cruz said with a mild chuckle (she didn't revel in Jackson's torment, but she did admit that it was amusing at times).

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself," Mack said with a smile.

"I see that you and Gale had your own fun," Cruz said with a coy smile.

"Oh, that? We were just chatting about random stuff, that's all," Mack said as he blushed.

"Don't worry, Mack, your secret is safe with me. Speaking of which, could you do me a huge favor?" Cruz asked as she anxiously rolled her tires around in the sand.

"What's that?" Mack asked, as he too was beginning to feel a bit nervous about Cruz's request.

"Just don't tell Mr. McQueen about this," she said as she slowly reversed into the trailer.

"I don't know about that, but since you're keeping my secret, I guess I can try to keep yours. It's only fair," Mack said in a feeble tone.

"Thanks, Mack. I owe you one," Cruz said as Mack pulled out from the parking lot.


End file.
